


Mysteries, Kittens and Boys in Love

by SunshineBoy28



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Auror Harry Potter, M/M, Past Relationship(s), Teacher Draco Malfoy, just mentioned, mention of PTSD, there may or may not be a cute kitten, very small panic attacks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-10
Updated: 2020-10-11
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:28:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 56,381
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26930650
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SunshineBoy28/pseuds/SunshineBoy28
Summary: When Harry is forced back to Hogwarts to solve a case, the last person he expects to see is Draco Malfoy, looking better than ever with a stupid bun. What he expects even less is to find himself opening up about his past with him, and actually feeling comfortable with the other man.
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter
Comments: 10
Kudos: 134





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This is my second fic in English, so please bear with me if you find some typos or the grammar seems all over the place for a moment, I really hope it is not so bad to prevent you from reading. Or like i hope the terrible title didn't prevent you from reading.  
> I took some liberties with the story, meaning that I tried to stick to canon as much as possible but I didn't always check all facts, but I promise it's going to make sense!  
> Thank you so much for reading, wishing you all a good day!

It had been years since the last time he'd set foot inside Hogwarts’ grounds, and had it been for him, he would have waited even longer. The place that had once meant home to him, where he had found his family, his best friends, now meant pain and death. He still held the castle close to his heart, no other place ever felt like Hogwarts, but after the war he hadn’t been able to visit. Even now, while he was walking to the front door, he could feel the ghosts of the war. The castle had been rebuilt back to its glory, the grass and the plants had all grown back with a little help, but Harry could still see it. He could see corpses on the ground, blood, people crying over their loved ones. And he could smell it, too, the smell of blood and sweat, the smell of desperation. The worst thing were probably the noises ringing inside his head, the screams of agony, of grief, the screams of people fighting for their life. Nothing was ever going to be the same, he had accepted that a long time ago.

And now there he was, standing in front of the door, on the stone stairs, with bloody Draco Malfoy in front of him. It was so unfair how after all those years he still looked the same posh boy, with his stupid platinum hair in a perfect bun, his grey eyes shining with the light of the late afternoon and his pale skin slightly tanner but still looking soft and delicate.

“Potter,” Malfoy greeted him. “It's a-" he cut himself of, clearly unsure of how to continue.

“You don’t have to pretend it’s a pleasure,” he said, smiling despite himself. He didn’t hate him, not anymore, probably he never really had, but it was uncomfortable. The last time they’d seen each other had been at Draco's trial, six years before.

“Its not, but I was expecting it to be worse.” If he could appreciate something about him, it was how blunt he had always been. Trust Malfoy to always tell you the truth.

“Why? We always got along so well,” he said, his sarcasm clear from there all the way to London.

“For sure.” He smiled at him, a genuine smile Harry had never seen before, at least not directed at him. “I was asked to bring you to the headmistress’ office, if you’d like to follow me.”

“I think I’ve been there enough times to remember the route.”

“I’m sure you do. But you are quite a famous guest, so,” he said, clearly trying to bite his tongue from making some nasty remarks. Some things never changed. He started walking, and Harry had to take a breath before setting foot inside the castle. “Are you alright?” Malfoy stopped and looked at him, not really worried, maybe more sympathetic. “I know the feeling of coming back for the first time.”

“Do you?”

“Yes. I lost friends too, you know. No matter what side, we all lost someone.”

“I didn’t mean-"

“It's okay. Are you good to go?” he cut him off.

“Yes, lead the way.”

Malfoy started walking again, and this time Harry followed him. He quickly realised that it still felt like home, despite all it felt familiar and safe. He could see some signs of the war, some marks left on the stone, burned pieces of wood no one had had the energy to replace, but it was still immaculate. He took his time taking it all in, looking down while the stairs were moving, watching everything carefully, as if trying to memorize every single detail like he had the first time.

“Bittersweet, isn’t it?” Malfoy broke their precarious silence and smiled sadly at him.

“It is, " he agreed. Which, wow. Hermione would have been proud of him. Never in a million years would he have thought to agree on something with Malfoy.

“I never got the chance to say thank you,” Malfoy said, forcing his voice to be steady but refusing to look at him.

“You don’t have to. Your mother saved my life, and I believe you did too when we were at the Manor.”

“Still. I was a dick.” Yes, he still had no filer, all was well in the world.

“You were.” He didn’t try to hide his smile. “But I know you apologised to Hermione and a lot of other people, it’s enough.”

“I never apologised to _you_.”

“For what, exactly? Hating me? We didn’t get along, nothing wrong with that.”

“I was cruel,” he said, and it was visible how difficult it was for him to admit it. It looked like he’d rather have jumped down from the stairs than have that conversation with him. He couldn’t agree more.

“I know, but the past is in the past. We all behaved like idiots.”

“So, it’s all good? Can we be civil to each other?”

“If you’d like that, then yes.”

“Thanks.” He sounded almost relieved, and Harry couldn’t blame him. Their history was horrible, with an almost accidental murder, a year of following him around and several others of just being mean to each other. They were older now, and the war had shaped them. He didn’t think it was possible, he thought his life had already been quite traumatic, but the war had changed his perspective and how he went about in life. Now he knew what it really meant to lose so many people, to lose your home and all you had built in years of struggles. He knew he would never be the same, so really, holding a grudge against Malfoy because they had behaved like stupid kids didn’t make any sense.

Without realising it they were already standing in front of the gargoyle guarding the headmistress’ office. “Why is it that I'm still scared of standing here?” he mumbled, more to himself than to Malfoy.

“You tell me. I’ve been working here for two years and I still think she’s gonna put me in detention every time she asks for me.”

Harry laughed at that. He could imagine adult Malfoy shaking a little in front of the gargoyle, readying himself to be scolded for something he hadn't even done.

“Apple pie,” Malfoy said, and the gargoyle moved, opening up in front of the staircase for them.

“Seriously? What is it with headmasters and food?”

“She wanted to follow in Dumbledore’s steps, or so she said.” Malfoy shook his head and started walking up the stairs, and no, Harry wasn’t ogling his ass, but he could appreciate it okay? Malfoy was not the kid he once had been. He was still tall and slim, but his shoulders were slightly broader and his arms more defined under the white shirt he was wearing. His ass had clearly improved and looked quite frankly amazing in the pressed black trousers.

“Harry. I wasn’t sure you were going to come.” McGonagall smiled at him from behind her desk. Nothing had changed inside from the last time he had been in that office. He immediately turned his head and caught a glimpse of Dumbledore winking at him.

“I wasn’t sure myself,” he said, going back to business. He reached her and shook her hand. “But I was curious to hear this proposition you have.” She motioned to the chair and he sat down, trying to relax.

“Well, I’ll leave you to it,” said Malfoy, making his presence known once again.

“Actually, I'd like you to stay,” professor McGonagall stopped him, “I trust you two won’t kill each other.” Now she looked unsure, which almost made Harry laugh. They really had been terrible to each other.

“I think we can manage that,” Harry said, sharing a very small, shy smile with Malfoy.

“Okay then.” Malfoy took his place on the chair next to Harry’s and folded his hands on his lap, looking quite nervous.

“I know my letter wasn’t very detailed Harry, so I’ll give you some more information. There have been some weird reports coming from the centaurs and Hagrid himself, of animals and other creatures killed in the forbidden forest. We don’t know who it is, surely not a student, so we would like you to give some special lessons on Defence Against the Dark Arts, with the help of professor Malfoy.”

“What do I have to do with this?” Malfoy asked, and even though he rarely showed his feelings, Harry could tell he was rather alarmed.

“You know each other, it would be easier for you two to practice together to show the students. And you know all of them, you can help Harry and give him information about each of them.”

“They already have a Defence teacher, why not him?” Malfoy was clearly not pleased with the request. Whether it was because of him or the subject, Harry didn’t know.

“He's good in class but he doesn’t have the patience for this. Furthermore, I think they’ll listen to Harry Potter with a lot more attention. That’s not all there is, I'd like Harry to investigate a bit more about what is happening.”

“Why didn’t you can the Ministry?” he asked, confused. He had not heard a single word about this at work.

“I did, they told us not to worry, that it’s probably a creature gone mad and that it won’t harm the students,” she said, clearly pissed.

“I could talk with Robards,” Harry offered.

“I would like to keep this matter as private as possible.”

“So you want me to what? Come here in the evenings and teach the kids how to defend themselves?” He didn’t like this, he didn’t like this at all. This would mean more time at Hogwarts, and even more time with Malfoy. Sure, they could be civil, but for how long?

“Precisely,” she said, not bothered by Harry sounding on the verge of a breakdown. “You could also just stay here, you know? To investigate in the morning.”

“They won’t let me take a holiday just to come here.”

“Then perhaps you can tell Robards you’re working on our case. Listen, Harry, I wouldn’t trust anyone else. Not only are you the best choice to teach the kids, but you know the forbidden forest and its creatures way more than you should. Hagrid said he'll come with you when you start exploring, and he'll show you where they found the killed animals.”

“How were they killed?” he was curious, sue him. It was his job, after all.

“Their blood was... drained. No cuts, no blood on the ground, it just disappeared.”

“A vampire perhaps? The marks they leave aren’t noticeable, especially not on animals.”

“No, it’s different, it's almost like they just left the skin, there is nothing inside. The eyeballs are missing too.”

“How many victims are we talking about?” he asked, now concerned. That did sound like a very peculiar case.

“Two centaurs, a unicorn, some other small animals. Hagrid said he saw a couple of acromantulas as well.”

“Do you think it could be a sort of ritual?” Malfoy asked McGonagall. He had gone very pale, and it looked like he was sweating more than usual.

“We don’t know for sure. What we do know is that the forest is more dangerous than ever, and kids still manage to go there. We were hoping you could scare them a bit and then teach them something if they still decide to break the rules. There is only so much we can do to stop them.”

“How many lessons are we talking about?”

“How many are necessary. I can talk with your boss if you want.”

“I’ll deal with him myself, see if I can get someone else involved to investigate the deaths.” If McGonagall was so worried, he just couldn’t find it in himself to decline.

“Discretion is key, understood?’

“You have my word.”

“So, will you come stay with us?” she asked, now sounding a lot more relieved. She almost looked happy, too, at the idea of having Harry back. The McGonagall of a few years prior would surely have found it ridiculous.

He took a deep breath and considered it. He wanted to, so bad, but he didn’t know if he was ready to face all the ghosts of his pasts. On the other hand, he would have to come there everyday anyway to investigate.

“You don’t have to answer now,” McGonagall interrupted his thoughts, noticing how troubled he looked. “We can open a connection so that you can use the Floo.”

“I think it would be better to stay here in case of emergency.” It pained him to say so, but it was true. He was already planning to go exploring in the night, at different hours, to see if there was a difference in activity.

“I’ll tell the elves to get your room ready. When can we expect you?”

“Tomorrow evening, I’ll let you know if something comes up.”

“Perfect. Thank you, Harry, it really means a lot.”

“Duty," he simply said, standing up. He was ready to go home and hex himself for saying yes. He knew he was going to regret it, but he couldn’t say no to McGonagall, not when innocent students were in danger and no one of his colleagues took it seriously.

“Professor Malfoy, could you please escort our guest out?”

“Of course.” He stood up as well and waited by the door while Harry and the headmistress said their goodbyes.

“I'll write you a letter tomorrow morning, just a list of things I will need for the lessons.”

“Great.” She held out her hand and Harry immediately took it. “See you tomorrow.”

He simply nodded and exited the room, followed closely by Malfoy. “You don’t have to see me out, I’m sure you have more important things to do.”

“It's not a problem. Also, I think we should start discussing about these lessons we have to do. Would you like me to collect some information about what they have done so far in each year?”

“That would he brilliant. I think the best thing to do is put first and second years together, ‘cause they are still very inexperienced. Third and fourth years together and then fifth, sixth and seventh. What do you think?”

“Could work, yeah. Although I think seventh years won’t be pleased.”

“I'm not here to please them. They’ll help train the youngest if they get bored.”

“You know, I think we'll have fun.” Harry turned around and saw him smirking.

“We'll have to do a demonstration of what we are gonna teach them. Like we did in second year, remember?”

“How could I forget? You bloody spoke with a snake.”

Harry laughed at that. He figured Malfoy was right, seeing someone speaking to a snake is not really a common occurrence, not even in the wizarding world. “Fair.” They walked in silence for a few seconds, and then he couldn’t help himself and added: “I can’t do it anymore.”

“How come?” They reached a corridor and Malfoy started walking next to him. He looked kind of imposing, what with being so tall and his face so serious.

“Well, I had a part of Voldemort inside of me, when I died and that part disappeared, I lost the ability to talk with snakes.” He noticed Malfoy shuddering at the mention of Voldemort, but he didn't point it out. He knew Malfoy had done what he had to in order to protect his family, he remembered very vividly what he had looked like in sixth year, how scared he was, how much weight he had lost and how little sleep he was getting. Sure, Malfoy wasn't the best person in the world, he had done some very horrible things even before that, but Harry knew that what he had done in sixth year wasn’t his doing.

“That must have been fun.” He sounded almost chocked up, as if talking about Voldemort was still too much after six years.

“I think it was probably like having him in your house. Unpredictable, sometimes he showed up and took over all my attention, sometimes he disappeared for days.”

“Can we not?” he asked in a whisper. He looked pale again, and he couldn’t lift his head to meet Harry's eyes.

“I'm sorry. Are you okay?”

“It brings back bad memories.”

“I know, but do you really want to give him all this power when he’s already been defeated?”

“I don't want anyone to remember him, I wish we could just erase him completely.”

“That’s why story repeats itself, though. People need to know, they need to know what happens when they trust someone like him, don't you think?”

“I guess,” he said reluctantly.

“But I’ll stop talking about him, I'm not here to make you feel like shit.”

“Thank you.” In the corner of his eyes he saw Malfoy relax his shoulders. “So, how’s the Weasley girl?” he asked after a while, and Harry knew it had taken him a lot to ask it, so he decided not to make fun of him. For the time being.

“Fine? I saw her a few weeks ago, why?”

“Aren’t you two together?” he asked, confused, finally turning his head to look him in the eyes.

“Oh, that. No, we broke up a few years ago.”

“What? I read an article on Witch Weekly-" he stopped himself as soon as he realised what he was saying. He looked like he wanted to hit his head against the wall.

“Aw, Malfoy, are you keeping up with my life? How sweet of you.”

“Just cause you’re you, don’t think I won’t hex you.”

“I never thought you’d give me a special treatment. But please, do go on.” He smiled at him, a fake and sugar-coated smile that he was sure was going to piss Malfoy off even more.

“Whatever, a girl was reading it in class and I saw an article saying you were getting married.”

“Well, as I’ve already said, we broke up a few years ago. We just didn’t make it public and we are still friends, so I guess people saw us together and assumed we are still a couple.”

“I see,” was all he said. His cheeks looked quite red, and Harry never thought he would see the day he would make Malfoy blush.

They reached the door in silence, and started walking on the wet grass, when something caught Harry’s attention. “Stop," he whispered, and stopped in his track. “There is something moving in the forest," he said, noticing Malfoy’s confused face. “Wait here.” He started walking, and rolled his eyes as soon as he heard Malfoy's steps behind him. “Go back.”

“I'm not completely useless, you don’t know what you’re going to find.”

“Okay then, be careful.” He stepped inside the forest and immediately it felt like another place. It was so much quieter and dark, he could see movements all around them, but nothing that resembled what he thought he had seen.

“What did you see?” Malfoy whispered, following closely behind him.

“I’m not sure.” He stopped without notice and Malfoy bumped into him, almost sending them both to the ground. “Careful.” He turned around and helped Malfoy to stay upright. “Alright?” he asked.

“Yes, sorry.”

They fell into a heavy silence, broken only by the noises of little animals running around the forest. “I don’t like how close it was to the castle.” He started walking again, going back to the safety of the grounds.

“What did you see?” he asked again.

“White eyes. It was like... they looked empty, just white.” He held the branch of a tree up and let Malfoy through. “Be careful with this pl-" he didn’t manage to finish his phrase that the plant in question exploded in front of them. “Shit. Take off your shirt.” He started stripping, and was pleased to notice that Malfoy was doing the same. He really didn’t want to argue in that moment.

“Now that I’m half naked in the forbidden forest, can I know why?” Malfoy asked once they were both shirtless.

“We need to leave, c’mon.” He started walking faster, and stopped only when they reached the grass around the castle, barely lightened by the little sunlight left.

“Potter,” Malfoy said, out of breath.

“It's a corrosive plant, it can burn the skin. Let me see if you have any weird bubbles.” He lighted up his wand and brought it closer to Malfoys’ chest. There were no bubbles on his chest, but he noticed white scars, running all over his chest, coming very close to his neck. “Did I-“ He looked up, feeling nauseous, and found Malfoy looking at him with red cheeks and an embarrassed expression. “Did I do this to you?”

“It doesn’t matter. Do you want me to check your back?”

“Answer my question,” he said, even though he already knew. He remembered that day, he dreamed about it so frequently he was sure he was never going to forget it. The blood, Malfoy on the ground, he had almost killed him.

“Yes, but I deserved it. I’m not angry at you, okay? I don’t think you even knew what it was."

“I shouldn’t have used it on you.”

“It's okay, it’s in the past. We’ve all done things we regret, haven’t we?” He absentmindedly started to touch his left forearm, right where the mark was.

“Does it hurt?” he couldn’t help himself but ask.

“What?” He looked at him for a second, then lowered his gaze on his arm. “Oh.” He immediately stopped stroking his arm, and let it fall to his side. “It used to, at the beginning, but after _he_ died it became useless. Just a reminder of my mistakes.” He smiled sadly and diverted Harry’s eyes.

“You were young, and your father-"

“I really don’t want to talk about this. Get some firewhiskey in me and I’ll tell you my darkest secrets, but not now.”

Harry found himself laughing at that. “I’m sorry, I shouldn't have asked.”

“It’s okay.” He started playing with his shirt, and he cursed loudly when he noticed the big hole in the middle of it. “Fucking hell, why do they keep this damn forest. And near the kids. I’ll never understand their logic.”

“It keeps the kids safe from anyone who tries to enter the castle.”

“Does it though?”

“Supposedly,” he conceded. “I better go. See you tomorrow, Malfoy.”

“See you.” Draco walked past him, leaving behind a trail of perfume, something like the breeze of the sea, Harry thought distractedly, and he started walking toward the gates, half naked. He was already regretting this.

***

As expected Robards wasn’t happy with his decision. He had been screaming at Harry for ten minutes when he decided that enough was enough.

“Okay, stop it. We are talking about kids being in danger. I’ll go there whether you want it or not. What are you going to do, fire me?” he challenged.

Robards was fuming, his face was so red Harry thought he was going to explode. “Very well, I’ll send your work there. Don’t think you’ll have a paid vacation just like that.”

“I _am_ working.”

“There is nothing to worry about,” he insisted.

“Seems like once again people don’t believe me when I say there is something dangerous. Let’s hope it's going to be better than last time.” He knew he was being dramatic, but whatever. He was going to blame his proximity to Malfoy the day before. “If you’ll excuse me, I have to go get ready.” He left the room before his boss could hex him.

When he arrived at the castle that evening, he wasn't surprised to see all the kids excited and waiting at front door, trying to take a look at him.

“Alright,” came Draco’s amplified voice. “You’ll manage to look at him at dinner and when your lessons start, now go back to the great hall.” No one moved, they just started talking louder and snickering. “Now," he said, and even Harry found him scary. Finally, the students started moving, and slowly they all left, leaving Harry alone with Malfoy.

“Hello," he said, slightly embarrassed.

“I swear to Merlin, if this happens every time they see you I’ll start giving them so many homework they won't be able to leave their rooms,” he said, frustrated, running a hand through his hair to move it from his face.

“I’ll see if I can do something about it," he said, taking pity on him. It was exhausting, he knew it. It had taken him two years to get used to people freaking out in front of him, and he still didn’t quite get it. It was one of the things that had broken him and Ginny up, although he wasn't sure they would have lasted anyway. She was amazing and she had been his first true love, but the war had changed them too much, and they weren’t what the other needed anymore. He needed stability and calm, and she was always training, trying her hardest to be free and live her life to the fullest. He was tired of that, all he wanted to do was settle down.

“Please do that. I don’t want to hex one of the students. And please be careful if they ever give you a present, you never know.”

“Don’t worry, with all the love potions I’ve received these years I know what to do.”

“Okay then, follow me, dinner is starting soon, we waited for you today.”

“Oh God, why? It's going to be so embarrassing.”

“I know," he said, sounding way too pleased. Yeah, some things never changed. Malfoy opened the door for him, and they walked inside the hall. No one was talking anymore, they were just staring at him, mouths agape, some looked on the verge of tears.

“I hate this," he whispered, and he was pleased to notice that Malfoy was fighting back a smile. Maybe it was going to work. After all, they weren’t that different. The things they had done during the war, they both had done them to protect their loved ones. He knew Malfoy wasn't the same person anymore, he was just raised with the wrong ideas. He, of all people, knew something about being raised in a household with questionable ideas.

“Wait for your introduction,” he said, and this time he was definitely smirking, the prick.

They finally reached their table and Harry sat next to Malfoy, at the left edge. He leaned forward to wave at Hagrid, and then sat back to look at the Great Hall. He immediately regretted it when he saw all those eyes on him. It wasn't exactly new, but it didn’t make it any less weird or uncomfortable.

“Evening, students,” started McGonagall, finally taking pity on him, “as I’m sure you all have noticed, we have a new addition to our teaching body. Auror Potter agreed to give you all some lessons on Defence Against the Dark Arts, and he will be joined by Professor Malfoy. The lessons will start next week, and they will be compulsory, for all of you. You will find a timetable in your common rooms. While he is here, I expect you all to treat him respectfully. You will not ask for autographs or photos and you will not follow him around. Let dinner begin.” She clapped once and dinner appeared on all of the tables, including the one Harry was sitting at. If there was a thing he had missed about Hogwarts, it was the food.

He dived in immediately, ignoring Malfoy's disgusted grimace. He was still better than Hagrid. Maybe. Hopefully.

“If you keep this up, they will stop worshipping you soon enough. How long has it been since the last time you’ve eaten?” he asked, with his nose still wrinkled up in disgust.

“I don’t have time to cook and my elf sucks at it, I eat like this only when I visit the Weasleys.”

“You look like a barbarian.”

“Don't look at me eating this chicken leg then.”

Malfoy snorted and turned his head, focusing on his plate and on cutting his food with care.

That same night he decided to start investigating. He finished his food and ran to his room as fast as he could without looking crazy, managing to avoid almost all the kids trying to follow him. He changed into his comfortable clothes and left the room. Thankfully, the students weren’t allowed to leave the castle after dinner, so as soon as he exited the door, they stopped following him.

He sighed, relieved, and started walking toward Hagrid’s hut. Hagrid had visited them a couple times, and they had met up in Diagon Alley on several occasions, but he hadn’t visited him at home since before he had started his journey to find the Horcruxes. He stopped in front of the door and knocked on it a couple times.

“Harry," said Hagrid, clearly excited to see him. It had been almost a month since the last time they had seen each other.

“Hagrid.” He smiled at him and entered the hut as soon as Hagrid moved to give him space. “How are you doing?” he asked, sitting on a chair like it was his own home. Fang immediately plopped at his feet, and he started rubbing his tummy with his foot.

“It's a bit boring here, you know, not like when you were still here causing troubles. But Draco-"

“Draco?” he asked, raising an eyebrow at him. Well that was new.

“Yes, as I was saying, Draco is keeping me company. Give him a few glasses of whiskey and he'll become your best friend,” he said, while serving him some biscuits that did not look particularly edible.

“You and Malfoy?” he said, still incredulous.

“What’s wrong with that? Draco changed a lot, for the better, he apologised as soon as he started working here.”

“I didn’t know that. I knew he had apologised to Hermione and other people.” He waited for Hagrid to be distracted and put a biscuit inside the pocket of his hoodie. An old habit of his. He had never managed to eat Hagrid's biscuits, but the last thing he wanted to do was hurt his feelings by not eating anything.

“He’s not his dad, he really is a good man now. Still so bloody posh and all, but a good person nonetheless.”

“Glad to hear that since I’ll have to work with him. Hope we won't be at each other's throat too much," he said, scared of what could happen once they were alone.

“I wouldn’t be too sure.” Hagrid smiled at him and took a biscuit for himself. “You two always managed to bring out the worst in the other.”

“It’s going to be a disaster,” he said dramatically.

“Maybe.” Hagrid laughed, but became serious immediately after. “So, are you here for a visit in the forest?”

“I am, yes. Malfoy and I went in yesterday evening ‘cause I saw something moving, but we didn’t find anything.”

“Listen, I know you are trained and all, but you have to promise me you will never go around the forest alone. Come to me or ask one of the teachers, but you have to promise me you will be careful.”

“That bad, uh?”

“I've never seen anything like this.” If Hagrid was scared it meant it was really bad. He didn’t know of a single creature Hagrid didn’t like or find adorable.

“What do you think it is?” he asked, hoping that Hagrid had some sort of idea, or that the centaurs had told him something McGonagall still didn’t know.

“Not an animal, that’s for sure. It doesn’t even look like a human, just a creature.”

“Wouldn’t it be safer for you to sleep in the castle for a while?”

“Don’t worry about me, I don’t think it's going to leave the forest anytime soon, not with you around.” He patted him on the shoulder, trying to sound reassuring. “Let's go then, I’ll show you around.”

“Alright.” He got up and stepped over Fang, who was looking expectantly at Hagrid.

“Not today, sorry.” Hagrid petted his dog on the head and locked him inside the house. That was a very bad sign.

They talked about random things for a while, trying to lighten up the mood a bit, but soon enough their voices turned into a whisper, until they were both silent.

Just like the night before, the forest felt like a totally different place, except it was even more silent that it used to be. Not even during the war, when Harry was walking to his death, had it felt so silent and creepy. It seemed as if the whole forest was still and quiet, not one single animal was moving, they didn’t dare to.

“This is where I found the unicorn," Hagrid said after ten minutes, stopping in a clear spot between the trees.

“What did you do with the body?”

“I buried it. At the time I didn’t know it was something more serious. When I found out there had been more deaths, I started bringing them to the castle. All the teachers tried to come up with something, but eventually they had to give up.”

“Do you think I could have a look?”

“I think they buried the poor creatures after a while, but I'm sure you won't have to wait long for another one.”

“Very reassuring.”

“I’m sure you’ve seen worse,” he said, trying to smile at him.

“But I always knew what I was working with.”

“That’s true.”

They started walking again, and Hagrid stopped at another spot where he had found an acromantula.

“Do you think you could point out these spots in a map?” Looking around he couldn’t find anything, either because this killer had left nothing behind or because it had been too long already, but maybe he was following a pattern.

“We can try, yes. Maybe we could ask the centaurs, I’m sure they could help.”

“We can come back tomorrow, then.”

“Let’s get out of here.”

To his relief but also somewhat disappoint, they made it out of the forest without stumbling upon any weird and dangerous creature.

“Thank you, Hagrid, I think I’ll go rest now.”

“Of course.” He smiled at him and opened the door to his hut. “Good night, Harry, it’s good to have you back.”

“It's good to be back.” He was surprised by how much he meant it. Just the day before he was panicking while standing in front of the gates, but he had soon realised that nothing could ruin this place for him. Sure, he still had traumas that were never going to leave him and some days were going to be worse than others, but at the end of the day not one single place was like Hogwarts. Going around the school, eating good food, spending time with Hagrid, he had so many good memories about all of these things.

He decided to wander around the castle for a bit before going to his room, something he had never really done before after curfew without fearing for his life in case Snape had found him.

“Day one and he's already back to his old habits.”

Harry turned and found Malfoy clad in a long silk dressing gown, with only his wand to light up his path. “It feels liberating, not being scared of getting into trouble for being up late.”

“I know, I used to do it too.” He lowered his wand and fell into pace with him.

“I thought it was going to take longer to get used to this.”

“This place meant a lot to all of us, a war is not going to erase the fact that this was our home for seven years. Sometimes it's hard, I’m not going to lie. I find that my nightmares are worse here than they are when I’m home, there are days when I see a burnt spot and everything comes crashing back, and other days when I see a special spot and just remember all the nice things that happened.”

“I know what you mean. For three weeks I couldn’t sleep alone at Grimmauld place, Ron, Hermione and Ginny took turns to stay with me. There are just so many memories attached to that house. Sometimes I still get excited at the idea of seeing Sirius.”

“I’m sorry about him.” Draco said after a couple of seconds.

“He was related to you, right?”

“Yes, Mother's cousin. I never met him, but I admired him. At times I wished I could be like him and leave my family behind, get away from that madness.”

“And why didn’t you?”

“Because I thought I could protect them, that I could make _him_ proud and he would leave us alone.”

“I don't think he was capable of feelings. Making him proud only meant fuelling his rage.”

“I know that now, but at seventeen I was just a dumb kid.”

“I know, I never blamed you.”

“You were seventeen too.”

“The circumstances were different. So many times, I found myself fighting only to survive and protect my friends, I don't blame you for doing the same.”

“What happened to us?” he asked dramatically.

“We grew up. I’m kinda glad we don't have to fight anymore, wouldn't want to ruin your reputation with the students.”

“Excuse me? I’ll put you to shame at our first lesson.”

“Whatever helps you sleep at night” he said, flicking his hand.

“So you still are an annoying git, thank Merlin, I was worried.”

“Good night, Malfoy” he said, not able to hide his smile.

“Good night, hope you get lost.”

“I know this place better than you.”

“Annoying git," he murmured, going back to where he had come from.

Maybe they could make it work.

***

The first lesson happened on a Tuesday evening with the first and second years. To say that Harry was nervous was an understatement. Not only he didn’t know how to talk to kids, but he wasn’t sure he could teach someone. Sure, he had done his share of teaching before the war, with Dumbledore's Army, but those were his friends, people around his age, not people who looked up to him.

“Kids are like animals: they can smell your fear.” Draco stopped next to him in front of the door. “You don’t need to worry, they are already hanging from your lips.”

“That's the problem. I have a lot of power over them, I want to use it as best as I can.”

“I’m sure you will. Otherwise that’s what I'm here for.”

“Draco Malfoy saving me from little kids, who would have thought.”

“Everyone. Every time you see a kid looking at you, you look more scared than you did during the war.”

“That’s rude.”

“Let’s go.” He opened the door, and quickly the voices they could hear in the corridor died down. The kids parted, and Draco started walking between them to reach the stage they had set for the lesson.

It took Harry a few seconds to catch up, and he had to remind himself not to run behind Malfoy like a lost puppy.

“Alright,” Malfoy started, “this is our first lesson. You won’t need to write down anything but you are allowed to if you feel the need. Just make sure you are concentrated and try to pay attention to our movements. Even better, stay away from the forest and you won’t need to use any of the spells we will be teaching you.”

Harry turned his head from Malfoy to the kids, and noticed that they were all staring at him.

“You think they heard a word I said?” Malfoy asked him in a whisper, sounding way less pissed that Harry would have expected.

“No, sorry.”

“You do the talking then.” He crossed his arms and looked at him expectantly.

“Uh, as Mal- Professor Malfoy was saying, these lessons are just a precaution, but you really shouldn’t have to use any of these spells if you are smart enough to stay away from the forest. What we are gonna do is show you a normal and simple duel, then we want you to get into pairs or groups of three and work on disarming each other. Everything's clear?” No one answered, so Harry took it as a yes and turned to Malfoy. “Ready?” he asked.

“Scared, Potter?” he asked, smirking at him.

“I can’t believe you just said that,” he said, not able to contain his laughter. “Remember that I can’t speak with snakes anymore, don’t throw one at me.”

“Alright, I’ll see what I can do.”

He shook his head, for some reason endeared by their banter. He never thought he would see the day in which their bickering was just that, no hard feelings, or at least not explicit ones. He didn’t really hold any grudge against him, he had despised him for so long in school, that once it was all over, he had no strength to keep it up. Draco had fucked up, but so had so many other people, not even Dumbledore had been the person he always thought he was, but that didn’t make him love and admire him any less. He didn’t see the point in arguing with Malfoy when they could be at least friendly.

They went back to back, then counted to ten while walking away from each other. When they reached the end, they both turned around, wands pointed against each other, and immediately started firing. They knew each other too well, after years spent observing and obsessing over the other for really different reasons. Harry knew Malfoy was going to attack, so he immediately casted a shield, and made sure that Malfoy’s curse bounced back toward the ceiling instead of going on the students.

“Aww, Potter, I was hoping for your signature spell.”

“Didn't want to end so fast.” He smirked, happy to see that he still had the power to rile Malfoy up. He attacked, but Malfoy was too quick and he managed to step aside.

“You’re slow," he said, faking a yawn.

From there their perfect plan went to shit. They had planned every detail of the lesson, but somehow, they found themselves casting spells and shields so fast and at times nonverbally, that none of the student even had the time to understand what was going on. And the worst thing was that it was fun. Malfoy was good, Harry already knew that, but it had been a while since he had had the chance to duel with someone who was on the same level as him and was not scared to use his full powers because he was The Boy Who Lived. Malfoy didn’t care, and perhaps he was the only one. Even his friends had treated him differently at first, Hermione too scared to make him snap by unintentionally mentioning something, Ron was still feeling guilty because of what had happened in the forest, and even Ginny couldn’t help but always worry about him.

“Malfoy,” he said, remembering where they were. He lowered his wand, and Malfoy did the same. They both turned to look at the students, who were openly gaping at them, and started clapping as soon as they realised it was over. “Ehm, I think we got a bit carried away.” He awkwardly touched his beard, trying to find something to do with his hands.

“You don’t say.” Malfoy got closer and raised his hand. Immediately the hall fell silent. “Alright, pair up and then we will give you some basic instructions,” he said, and Harry could not deny how powerful he looked. He had always known that Malfoy was born to boss people around.

The students started mingling, and in a couple of minutes they were scattered around the hall.

“Perfect,” said Harry, “for tonight we just want you to disarm your opponent. Second years, you should already know the spell. Someone wants to tell the first years?” Honestly, he was surprised the first years could even hold their wands right considering the year had just started.

A couple of hands raised, and when Harry looked at Malfoy, he picked a girl who was closest to them.

“Expelliarmus,” she said, loud and clear.

“Very well," Harry said, smiling at her. “Now, this is the movement you have to practice.” He turned his back on them, and made sure everyone could see his hand before showing the correct movement. “Now try, please don’t hesitate to ask if you have any doubt, we will be walking around the hall.”

The students immediately started practicing, and both him and Malfoy left their little stage to check on the them. Harry could feel their eyes on his back, but so far no one had dared stopping him. Malfoy, on the other hand, had been stopped a couple times, and something in the way he talked to the kids, how he looked so calm and patient compared to the Malfoy he used to know, made him feel... almost happy. It was a weird feeling, but he was happy for him, almost proud. He knew that after the trial things had been hard for the Malfoy family, and a weird, troubled part of his brain had been worried for him, but now that he knew he was doing well, he felt better.

“He's surprisingly good with them.”

If it wasn’t that he had been trained to keep calm and collected, he would have jumped at the sudden intrusion.

“Headmistress, I didn’t know you were coming," he said, moving his eyes away from Malfoy, who was checking a little girl's wrist.

“You know I respect both of you and I appreciate both of your work, but don’t think I forgot how things were between you two. I don’t want to see you in that infirmary ever again, not while I’m in this school.”

Harry laughed at that; he couldn’t really blame her. “Fair enough” he said, looking around at the students.

“Is this the first time you two see each other after the war?”

“I was at his trial, six years ago. I might have seen him at some party, some funeral, but that’s it.”

“How do you feel? Being here, after all this time.”

“It's hard,” he said, because if there was a thing his therapist had taught him, it was to always be open and honest. “I thought it was going to be worse, but this is still home, always will be.”

“I was surprised you never came back.”

“I wanted to, I just wasn't sure I would have been able to face all of this. We lost too many friends inside these walls, there are wounds that won't ever properly heal, some that I don’t want to heal because it would mean that I forgot.”

“You can't stop in the past, Harry, you need to let things go. You will never forget, even if you heal, but you will be able to remember and concentrate on the good things.”

“I don’t think I can. I don’t want to forget even the bad things. For some of them, it's all I’ve got. I don’t want to forget Bellatrix, or what she did to Sirius, because as long as I remember, I can prevent it from happening again.”

“Stop trying to save the damn world, Potter," Malfoy said from behind him. “Try and get a break, nothing's gonna implode." Just as fast as he had arrived, he left again.

“Always so eloquent," he said.

“He's right, though. No one who lived that will ever forget, but we have to move on, and you deserve to be happy.”

“Thanks.” He smiled at his old professor. She had always been so stern and strict, but he knew she cared more than anyone else. He trusted her just as much as he had trusted Dumbledore, or maybe just a little bit less now that he knew what he had hidden from him.

“Of course. Please, feel free to come and join me for tea whenever you want, not just for updates, but also to chat.”

“I will, professor.”

She smiled at him, her years finally catching up to her after all the stress of the last years, and she left silently.

He walked around the hall for another half an hour, only a couple people had the courage to ask him for advice, but other than that it was quite uneventful and everything went smoothly.

“Alright," Draco's voice resonated thought the hall, “that’s all for tonight, please go straight to your rooms.”

All the students stopped working and immediately grouped up like they had been instructed to, to go to their dormitories.

“Malfoy, can I ask for a favour?” he said, way more shyly than he had intended to.

“You can try," he said, as he made the stage disappear.

“Hagrid doesn’t want me to go to the forest alone, would you mind coming with me tonight?”

“Since when do you follow rules?”

“I’ve never seen Hagrid so scared, it's not like him to forbid Fang from coming with us. I would ask another professor, but since you are already here... it won't take long.”

“You don't need to convince me. I want to protect this school just as much as you do.”

“Okay, meet me in five minutes at the door?”

“Sure.”

“Great.” He ran away to his room, looking for the Marauder’s Map. He knew it was a long shot, but it didn't hurt to have it with him. Especially if it meant he could catch students sneaking out and scare the shit out of them until they refused to even look at the forbidden forest.

And that was the reason he never became a teacher.

He ran as fast as he could, sure that Malfoy would not have appreciated him being late. He was right. When he finally reached the door, Malfoy was standing there with his arms crossed and his foot tapping the floor. “Sorry, I momentarily forgot how big this place is. I had to jump to get on the stairs, I almost fell down.”

“Same old Potter," he said, but it lacked the venom it usually held. Even when he said his name, or well, surname, it didn’t sound like it used to back then, there was less bite to it.

“What can I say, I like doing dumb things.”

“Oh, I know.” He sighed and started walking, way too fast for Harry, who almost had to run to keep up with his long strides. “What do you have there?” he asked, not even turning to look at him.

“This is what helped me keep up with you in sixth year. It’s called the Marauder's Map, it was created by my dad and his friends. It allows you to see everyone in the school right now, I was wondering if maybe we could push our luck and see if it can be extended to the forest too.”

“I’ll ignore the lack of privacy just for the sake of this, but even if it can be modified, do you think it would show this creature?”

“It doesn't show animals, but Hagrid says this is different. I think it is possible to maybe latch onto intentions, free will and all that.”

“We are in a magical school, most animals here are smatter than a lot of kids I know.”

“I know, but their intentions are different, and they still respect and follow their owners. If this thing is out of control, we might be able to detect its intentions, desires, all that stuff that makes us more human.”

“Okay, and how do you plan to do that?” he asked, and the fact that he seemed intrigued was a great relief to Harry.

“Well, first thing first I need someone who’s good at transfiguration and charms, to understand how the map works. I’m not sure how they made this happen.”

“I should have known this was an ambush to get me to work more. Alright, I will look into this for you.”

“And no McGonagall, please. I don’t want her to find out about this.”

“Contrary to unpopular belief, yours, I’m not an idiot.”

“I wouldn't have asked for your help if I thought you were.” He stopped, close to the forest but still at a safe distance to see anything coming their way. “I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," he said while pointing his wand at the map. Red lines started forming, and in a couple of seconds the whole Hogwarts was in from of them.

“That’s... impressive,” Malfoy said, standing way too close to him to examine the map. “Does it really show everyone?”

“Yes. The third year I found Peter Pettigrew, that's how Lupin found out he wasn’t dead.”

“Interesting. Do you have to look through all of it or can you find a specific person?”

“No, sadly you have to look at the whole map.”

“Can I try something for that as well?”

“Yes, just please be careful. This is the only thing I have of, you know, my dad, Sirius and Lupin.”

“I'll be careful,” he said, for the first time ever using a very gentle and careful tone with him. “Shall we see what we can find?”

“Yes.”

Malfoy pointed his wand toward the map to see better, and they started looking at the edges, trying to see if they could make out anything from the forest. “It looks like it stops too soon.”

“It does” he said, disappointed “I can't even see us. But look, a couple of students are in the kitchens.”

“As if you’ve never done it.” 

“Of course I have. Midnight snacks are the best.”

“I have to agree,” Malfoy said after a moment.

“Well this is useless. Mischief managed.” He closed the map and started walking closer to the forest, scanning it, looking for the white eyes of the other night. “Have you ever seen or heard anything suspicious before?”

“Not really, no. I’ve felt... as if someone was watching me though, when I go to Hagrid's. I could feel something lurking, but I always thought it was some of the usual animals.”

“When do you go to Hagrid's?”

“Whenever I feel like, but it's usually on Friday nights. We like to drink together.”

“I don't have the time to unpack all of this," he said, half shocked. “I was thinking about following you maybe? Trying to see from far away if I can spot anything.”

“Alright.”

“If it has a mind if its own, it probably has figured out the pattern. And right now, you are one of the few people who gets so close to the forest.”

“Am I in danger?”

“Not while I’m here,” he said, meaning it more than he would have expected.

“Potter, my saviour,” he said dramatically, bringing a hand to his chest.

“Git,” he muttered, getting even closer to the forest. He whispered a quick spell that allowed him to see better in the dark, a new invention that the Autors were testing for special missions, and started to scan the trees.

“Potter," Malfoy whispered after a while. “Potter, get away from there.”

Harry obeyed immediately, just like he had been taught. Don't wait to see if your partner is right, if they tell you to move, you move. “What did you see?”

“I have a bad feeling. There is something watching us.”

“I didn’t see anything.”

“It's here.” He gripped his wand tighter, and straightened his back.

Harry kept looking, but he couldn't make out anything. He didn’t feel anything, no chills, no adrenaline kicking in. He was almost one hundred percent sure there was nothing in that moment, and yet Malfoy was scared.

“We should head back,” he said, starting to get worried for him.

“Okay.” He started walking immediately, keeping his wand close and still very attentive.

Harry looked one last time at the forest, then he caught up with Malfoy. “Are you okay? What happened?” he asked.

“I’m sorry," he said, breathless.

“Malfoy, please, slow down.” He caught his arm and stopped him. “What happened?” he asked again, letting go of him immediately.

“I think I panicked.”

“That's okay, this isn’t your job after all.” He tried to sound gentle and calm, he didn’t want to make him feel bad about it, or like he was judging him.

“It's not like that, I-“ he stopped mid sentence and lowered his eyes.

“You don't have to tell me, but you can if you need to talk about it. I won't judge you."

“That's the thing though, I feel like I don't deserve to feel like this, especially not when I compare myself to what you went through.”

“That's bullshit, you can’t compare yourself to someone else, we are all different. You can drown in one feet of water just like you can in ten feet.”

“Do we have the same healer?” he said, smiling, now a lot more relaxed.

“So, is it like PTSD?” he asked carefully, ignoring what he had just said. He knew way too much about psychology for his liking, but his therapist had wanted to make sure he could recognise various symptoms for himself, and it was also part of his Auror training to know when someone was in a state if mental distress. He couldn’t diagnose someone, but he was pretty sure he could relate to Malfoy quite a lot.

“Yeah, don’t trust me when I say I’m feeling watched.”

“But I do, I trust your judgment.”

“It's not that easy. After a year of having _him_ in my house, I’m kind of paranoid, I always feel like someone is watching me.”

“I know what you mean. I had a couple of panic attacks when I first started training. We would be in a huge field with a lot of people, and suddenly I was back at the battle and I couldn’t move anymore, his voice was in my head and I was scared again. It happens. We were kids, we saw people die, suffer, we saw friends fighting each other, the war destroyed our families, we will never get rid of this weight, but it will get better with time.”

“I have so many people on my conscience, I will never be able to forget what I’ve done.”

“Try not to forget why you did it though.”

“Yeah, to save the failure that is my father, who's currently in his house drinking his weight in alcohol. I helped _him,_ I never fought back, I helped and watched as he tortured people.”

“Did you have any other choice? Because I know I didn't. It was a war, Malfoy, some fight for what they believe in, others fight to stay alive, and it's valid. You got caught up in the middle of something that was bigger than you.”

“But you-"

“This is not about me. You know why I went that night? Because I knew I was going to die anyway, and I wanted to do it with dignity, and hopefully spare some lives. I knew I didn't have any other choice.”

“You could have run away.”

“To where? I would have died and killed for my family, and you would have done the same. We are not so different.”

“We are.”

“We were on different sides, that's all. You know, my muggle... relatives, let's call them that, they were racists, homophobes, basically the pure blood of their society with a lot less money. I saw how they shaped their son, how they turned their noses up at classmates they didn't like or talked shit about some of the neighbours, and he grew up to be the same, because that was all he knew. The only reason I didn't turn up that way, is because they hated me more than anyone else. I was different, a freak, I had no family. And yet, at times I still believed them, I still thought ‘oh, maybe I’m better than that person because I have this and they don’t’ and it took time, and a lot of growing, before I realised how stupid it was.”

“Why are you telling me this?” he asked, confused.

“Because you needed to hear it. Listen, I don’t know if we will ever become friends, but I don’t hate you, I actually think you are a brilliant wizard and an amazing teacher. If I can help you, I will. We share a lot, might as well help each other, talk things through, let go of the past like you told me to do.”

“We do have a lot of unfinished business,” he said after a couple of seconds.

“We really do. And it might help, put ourselves in each other’s shoes and all that.”

“So we do have the same healer.”

Harry smiled at him and started walking again, slowly, to allow Malfoy to catch up. “What do you say?” he asked, even more quietly.

“I guess. But only if it comes up, don’t think I’ll be running to you.”

“Whatever you want.”

“Do you really want to talk about these things with me?” he asked, surprised, unable to make sense of what was happening.

“Why not,” he said, shrugging. “I know you hate the press just as much as I do, I’m positive you won’t give them anything, even if it means fucking me up.”

“That's very true.”

“Good then. I’ll see you around.” He smiled at him and started walking up the stairs.

“Thanks, Potter," Malfoy called after him.

“Of course.” He turned around quickly, but Malfoy was already disappearing down the stairs to the dungeons.


	2. Chapter 2

The next couple of days went by very fast and smooth. Everyone was cooperating: the students were not leaving the castle and they were taking his lessons very seriously, Malfoy was working on the Map, the other teachers were doing researches, and he was starting to settle down. He still had his moments when he walked past some particular spots during his night walks, but other than that, everything was going well.

Until one morning McGonagall called him and Malfoy into her office.

“Hagrid has found another dead animal,” she said, looking very tired and also a bit scared. “Another unicorn, a young one. I asked him to bring the body out of the forest, it's currently in one of the greenhouses, so that the students won’t be able see it.”

"Alright, I’ll go see it. Can I send things over to the Headquarters? I was thinking that maybe Hermione might have an idea of what is going on.”

"As long as it stays confidential.”  


“You have all my discretion. I will ask Ron to pick up whatever it is I need to get checked and he will talk about it with Hermione.”  


“Very well, thank you Harry. And you too, Draco. I have to say I’m surprised you two are working so well together, we should have paired you up a lot sooner.”  


“I don’t think that would have ended well, " Malfoy said, still very respectful and so damn posh. He just sounded like that, there was nothing Harry could do to change it, and for some reason, he really didn’t want to. There had been a time when just hearing his voice had made him feel annoyed, but at the moment he just found it funny and almost like a friendly presence.  


“At all," Harry agreed. “See, we even agree now.”  


Malfoy simply rolled his eyes, even though Harry was pretty sure he could see him trying to hold back a smile, while McGonagall simply shook her head, amused.  


“Well, we should probably go see this unicorn, better move it before word reaches the students.” He got up and fixed his robe. “I'll let you know as soon as we find something.”  


“Thank you.” She opened the door with a flick of her wrist, and both boys left as quickly as they could. Old habits die hard apparently.  


“Still scary,” Harry said while they were walking down the stairs.  


Malfoy laughed – a real laugh caused by him, wow – and simply said “told you.”  


“So, how come you have never seen one of the bodies before?”  


“I just... have a hard time with death these days," he said with a bit of difficulty. “Like, grasping the concept and accepting it.”  


“I see," he said, trying to sound as understanding as possible, because he did, he understood. “You know, it took me some time as well when I started working. Sometimes you see dead people, it's part of the job, and the first couple times I just had to leave.”  


“I wanted to become a healer,” he said, almost in a whisper. “Then I realised that no one would have wanted a Death Eater as a healer, and that I probably wouldn’t have been able to deal with death anyway.”  


“That’s a pity, you were really good at potions.”  


“I like this job, though. I can, you know, redeem myself. Teach kids it's okay to be different, to be yourself and not follow others, that everyone is deserving of our love and acceptance.”  


“I never thought I would hear you say something like this.”  


“Neither did I, or my father for the matter.” He smirked at that, clearly proud of himself for having pissed Lucius Malfoy off.  


“How is your mother doing?” he asked. He wondered about her from time to time. Even if for selfish reasons, she had saved his life.  


“Alright. They moved to Paris after dad was released, now the Manor is mine.”  


“How do you feel when you are there?” he asked, genuinely curious. If he still felt like he was being watched around school, he couldn’t imagine he felt safe in the house where Voldemort has spent time and killed people.  


“I haven’t been there since the day of my trial " he admitted. “I packed my things and never looked back. I’d like to sell it, but I doubt anyone would want it.”  


“Maybe if you went back now it would be different.”  


“He killed people on my dining table, he made me torture people, his stupid snake slithered around the whole house. Just the thought of it makes me sick.”  


“Can I say something without you getting pissed at me?”  


“I make no promises, but you may try.”  


“I really think the war changed you for the better. You might not like what you’ve done, but guilt and regret mean you’ve changed, grown. I think you are a good person now, and you deserve to forgive yourself for things you had no control over. Our side killed people too.”  


“For self defence.”  


“It wasn’t just that. I’ve seen them, I’ve seen their faces, their rage. Some of them wanted blood, and used the war as an excuse to get it. The good thing about the other side is that no one ever pretended to be good, on our side people thought they were better just because they were fighting against him.”  


“And how would the press feel if our saviour said those things?”  


“I’ve said them and they never got printed, so I don’t think they liked it too much.”  


“Gryffindor,” was all he said, and for the first time, mixed with derision and annoyance, there was a bit of admiration in that word pronounced by Malfoy.  


They walked in silence until they reached the greenhouse. It almost felt as if everything around knew that a great crime had been committed. The birds were not chirping, the flowers were all pointing down, as if grieving, and the fact that the kids were not around made the whole thing even sadder.  


The unicorn had been laid over a table. The body was perfect, just like McGonagall had said, but it looked empty, like a balloon after a couple of days.  


“You don’t have to stay here," he told Malfoy when he noticed him twitching at his side.  


“I’m fine," he said, and the fact that he had snapped like that meant that he was anything but fine. He decided it wasn’t his job to push Malfoy, and that he was old enough to decide for himself.  


He got closer to the animal to try and inspect it, but there was really nothing to look for. He scanned it with his wand, and he got his confirmation that no organ was inside. “What the fuck,” he muttered to himself. He tried to get samples from over the body, hoping that Hermione could find something, and put everything in his robe. When he turned around to leave, Malfoy was very pale and he was using the door to hold his weight, his knuckles white where he was gripping the handle. “Shit.” He reached him quickly and helped him step outside. “Breathe with me, Malfoy,” he instructed, but the man seemed in a sort of trance. “Draco, " he said, softly, and that seemed to snap him out of it. “There you are. You scared me for a second.” He pulled gently on his arm until Malfoy sat down on the grass, then he positioned himself in front of him.  


“I'm sorry," he said, clearly embarrassed.  


“I don't need to be protected.”  


“I know that, but what just happened-"  


“It won't happen again and we will not talk about it,” he said, resolute.  


“Alright. I guess taking you to the infirmary is out of question then,” he said casually, just to make sure.  


“Very smart, Potter.”  


He rolled his eyes but didn’t push it further. “I need to send an owl, do you want to come?”  


“Not particularly. I think I’ve found something useful for your Map, I’ll go work on that.” He got up very slowly, clearly still shaken by what had just happened, but for the sake of his own wellbeing Harry decided to let him do his things.  


“Great, see you at lunch.” He started walking toward the owlery, forcing himself not to turn around to check on Malfoy. The stubborn prick.  


If he wasn’t sure about it before, he sure as hell was now. Malfoy was a completely different person. He truly regretted what he had done, and he was trying to make things better, not just to protect his conscience, but because he knew it was the right thing to do. He was no saint, far from it, and things between them were probably never going to change, but now he knew he could somewhat trust him.  


He arrived at the owlery and was only slightly mobbed by a couple of first years, nothing that a good smile couldn’t solve, then he was finally able to sit down to write Hermione a note that just said ‘I’ll explain Sunday, can you check these?’, before sending off the owl. It still hurt at times, seeing those beautiful birds and not seeing Hedwig next to them. He missed her so much. He had never thought he would have been able to create such a special bond with an animal, and yet Hedwig had been everything to him in those years. When everyone was against him, when not even Ron wanted to talk with him, he had her. His friends had tried to get him to buy another owl, but he just couldn’t bring himself to do it.  


He stayed there for a couple more minutes, just looking at the birds and touching the ones who would let him, then he finally left and went back to his room to prepare their next lesson.

  


At lunch Malfoy seemed particularly happy. He had a weird smirk on his lips and his eyes were almost shining.  


“Look at you, did you get lucky? Don’t tell me it’s professor Trelawney.”  


“What are you- Oh my god, no, you weirdo.” He sat down next to him, and leaned in way too close. “I managed to make the Map bigger, now I just need to see if I can either replicate or expand the charm to the forest. Although I think it will take time to make it accurate, we need to have a clear idea of how the forest is made.”  


“That’s amazing, good job,” he said, truly impressed. He knew Malfoy was smart, on the same level as Hermione, but he wasn’t sure he would have been able to do it and especially not so quickly. “Listen, I have lunch at the burrow tomorrow, maybe you could come with me and talk to Hermione?”  


“Have you been drinking, Potter? It’s only midday.” He took his cup and inspected it, subtly sniffing its content.  


“I’m being serious,” he said, laughing. He reached for the cup and put it back down. “Listen, I know you don’t like Ron and his family, but it would be the most convenient time for everyone. Hermione is so busy and we need to get this done quickly, right?”  


“I guess.”  


“I promise you, you can leave whenever you want to. Molly won’t mind at all, and the others just do whatever she says so you’ll be fine.”  


“Alright, but I want you to check my food. I don’t trust the one with the joke shop.”  


“That’s George. Do you really not know their names?” he asked, for some reason amused.  


“I’m not exactly on first name basis with any of them, am I? And I’m pretty sure calling everyone Weasley would be a bit counterproductive.”  


“Okay, fair enough. We’ll figure something out.”

  


***

  


The look Ron gave them when he opened the door was priceless, Harry almost thought about putting it in a pensive for when he was sad.  


“Did I miss something?” Ron asked after a couple of seconds of incredibly tense and awkward silence.  


“It’s for the thing I’m doing at Hogwarts. I thought Malfoy could talk about some things with Hermione and since she is always so busy, I invited him. I hope it’s okay.”  


“Of course it’s okay, dear.” Molly appeared from behind Ron and engulfed him in a hug. “Harry, you’ve finally gained weight I see. I told you that Hogwarts was gonna be wonderful for you.” She let him go and pinched his cheek. “Mr Malfoy,” she said, more formal but still sounding genuine and happy.  


“Oh please, call me Draco. The last thing I want is to be treated like my dad.” He visibly shivered at that, and Harry barely held back a laugh.  


“Draco it is. You can call me Molly.”  


“Thank you.” He smiled at her, and turned quickly to look at Harry, who just nodded happily and went inside.  


“Harry!” Ginny jumped on him as soon as she saw him, and he barely had the time to catch her.  


“Hey, Gin,” he said, laughing and spinning her around. “How is my favourite ex girlfriend doing?”  


“You only had one, you idiot.” She slapped him behind the head and he finally put her down.  


“Details, my dear.”  


“God, you are annoying.” She pushed him slightly, and then her eyes settled on Malfoy. He knew she was going to be the hardest one to convince. After they had lost Fred, she had not been able to move on at all, and seeing Malfoy in her home must have been very hard for her. He had thought about warning her, but he wasn’t sure she would have agreed to it. He was going to make it up to her one way or the other. “Hi,” she said, clearly tense.  


“Hello,” he said, politely, “I’m really sorry for intruding today, I’m here for work.”  


“That’s fine,” she said. “Ron mentioned something about the forest?” she said, turning her attention back on Harry.  


“Yes, I will explain later, now let’s go say hi.” He gestured for Malfoy to follow them, and went into the kitchen to say hi to the rest of the family. No one seemed really bothered by Malfoy. Sure, they weren’t jumping around trying to get his attention, but they were all polite and nice to him.  


“Everyone, lunch is ready,” Molly shouted, and all of a sudden people were running from the other rooms and the kitchen was so noisy he could barely hear anything.  


“Here.” He sat down and moved the chair next to his for Malfoy, who sat down quickly and moved even closer.  


“Don’t be scared, we don’t bite,” George said, smiling at him.  


“Is there something in my soup that could bite?” he asked, dead serious.  


“No, I forgot my new prototypes. But please feel free to come visit me and I’ll make sure I have something for you.”  


“I think I’ll pass.”  


“George, don’t scare our guest,” Molly said, smiling at her son.  


“I’m not, I was just wondering if he wanted to test some products,” he said, faking innocence.  


“So, Harry, what exactly is going on?” Mister Weasley asked when everyone had food in front of them and were too occupied eating to bicker.  


“We don’t know yet. Dead animals were found in the forest, no organs, just skin and bones but no evidence of an attack, and I think I saw something the first night we went there, but I have no idea what it could be.”  


“Why is the Ministry not doing anything?” Hermione asked, clearly frustrated.  


“They don’t want to believe us, they are too scared it might actually be something bad,” Malfoy answered before Harry got the chance to. “We wrote several letters, McGonagall even had a couple of fire calls with the Aurors, but they say it’s probably just a wild animal gone mad and that he will be dead in no time.”  


“But the kids might get hurt,” Molly said, sounding scandalized.  


“They told us to be careful, as if we could control all those teenagers who wants to sneak out into the night. We do what we can, but I’m pretty sure everyone at this stable has sneaked out at least once and has not been caught.”  


“So anyway, they told us it's our job and not to worry.”  


“Unbelievable,” Mister Weasley said. “I’ll have a word with them tomorrow, this is unacceptable.”  


“They think we are paranoid, but even then, it would be better to be paranoid and make sure the kids are safe rather than risk it.”  


They tried to change subject after that, and started talking about Ginny’s practice and their various job, until the last plate was empty and everyone had had at least two servings of cake.  


“Can I be excused for a second before we start working?” Malfoy asked, always very polite.  


“Of course, dear. Harry, show him the bathroom.”  


“I just need to go outside if that’s okay?”  


“Sure, feel free to go wherever you need.”  


“Thanks.” He got up, doing a pretty good job of ignoring everyone's stare, and went outside.  


“So. Malfoy” Ron said.  


“He's not that bad,” Harry said.  


“He seems nice enough,” Hermione conceded. “And I’m really curious to work with him.”  


“He’s brilliant, you're gonna have a great time.”  


“Are you sure about whatever it is you are doing with Malfoy?” Ginny asked.  


“What do you mean? We work together, we have a professional relationship and we are trying to be friendly.”  


“Well he seems very friendly, that’s for sure,” she said, raising both of her eyebrows suggestively.  


“What’s this supposed to mean?”  


“Oh c'mon, he hasn’t stopped looking at you for more than five seconds,” George said.  


“You are all going crazy. I’m going to go and get a bit of fresh air.” He got up and left, while almost everyone looked at him knowingly. What the actual fuck. Him and Malfoy? Where did that even come from? He opened the door and immediately smelled cigarette. He looked around and found Malfoy leaning against a tree, with a cigarette between his fingers. “You smoke,” he said, and it wasn’t a question, he was mostly surprised.  


“Very muggle-ish of me, I know.” He took a breath and blew out smoke. Great, now Harry was thinking about his lips. Thank you very much, Ginny.  


“That's not the point, I just never thought of you as a smoker.”  


“Bad habit I picked up in Paris. Everyone was smoking, even wizards, so I just started doing it as well. Can’t stop now, it's the only thing that calms me down.”  


“Are you nervous?”  


“I destroyed their family.”  


“Not again.” He got closer, and he didn’t know why but he did it, but he put a hand on his shoulder. “You didn't kill Fred, you had no part in this. They don't care. They've forgiven you, and so should you.”  


“I don’t deserve it.”  


“Draco,” he said, letting his name slip for the second time. “How can I help you?”  


“I don’t want you to save me once again,” he said, frustrated, taking another drag of his cigarette.  


“I just wanna help.”  


“Then let me be. I don’t want your pity,” he spat out, as if that word was disgusting.  


“You are so annoying.”  


“Well yeah you can't really talk, can you?”  


“What do you mean? I’m the saviour, I can do whatever I want.”  


Malfoy smiled at that, and finally got rid of his cigarette. “It seems like I keep having breakdowns whenever I’m around you.”  


“I take that as compliment, maybe you are slowly warming up to me.”  


“Wouldn’t go that far.” He smiled at him and patted his shoulder. “Shall we go inside?”  


“Are you okay? Because we don’t have to do this.”  


“I’m fine, thank you.”  


“Okay then, if you are sure.”  


They went back inside, everyone had moved to the living room to talk, while Ron and Hermione were waiting for them at the kitchen table.  


“So,” Hermione started, “I had someone analyse what you sent me. Nothing wrong on the fur of the unicorn, no traces of weird substances, but it reacted for a high level of dark magic. Like incredibly high.”  


“What does it mean?” he asked, just to be sure.  


“We think it could be a ritual. You know how Voldemort used unicorn blood to get his powers back?”  


“That’s what I was thinking too," he said, trying to ignore Malfoy next to him, who had once again gotten very tense at the mention of Voldemort. “So, what do you think we should do?”  


“We need to know who it is before we do anything. It could be very dangerous to go alone or just you two in the forest.”  


“That’s what we are trying to find out.”  


“What do you have so far?” Ron asked, curious.  


“Show them," Harry said, nudging Malfoy.  


Malfoy took the Map out of his pocket and opened it on the table. “I'm still working on this. I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.” The map started forming, and he pointed them to the part he had added, showing a blur of trees. “I made it as simple as I could because I don’t know how the forest is made. We need someone who knows it very well, we could ask Hagrid."  


“Yeah, I’ll get it.” He got up, gently touching her shoulder before leaving.  


“I think Harry has more memories of the forest."  


“I don’t think it's a great idea,” he said, thinking back to Malfoy's reaction to Voldemort’s name. “There is a lot of him in my memories.”  


“Oh. I didn't know that was a problem. We can use mine then, no big deal," she said, smiling gently at Malfoy.  


“Thank you,” he said, a bit forced because of how embarrassed he was.  


“Of course. We’ve all been there.”  


“We've all been where?” Ron asked, while he was levitating the small but very heavy pensive inside the room.  


“In the forest. We were thinking about putting together our memories to form a complete map,” Hermione said immediately. Harry knew she didn’t like lying to Ron, but he was very grateful she had done it just this time.  


“Oh, sure. Alright, I can start if you want.”  


“I’ll do it for today.” Hermione smiled at him and kissed his cheek when he settled the pensive in the middle of the table. “Alright, let's do it.” She pointed her wand at her head, and immediately a string of silver came out of it. “Who's coming?” she asked, keeping her memories just a bit over the pensive.  


“You two can go. I’ve already seen all these things,” Harry answered.  


“Alright then.” She let her memories flow inside the pensive, then she put her head inside of it.  


“You don’t have to stay there if you don’t want to," Harry reminded Malfoy.  


“I know.” Without thinking too much about it he lowered his head next to Hermione's.  


“What was this all about?” Ron asked, confused.  


“It's kinda personal.”  


“So Gin is right?” He really didn’t like how smug he looked.  


“There is nothing going on between us. We are just... friends? Maybe not even that. We talk a lot, though, we’ve been through similar things, we understand each other.”  


“But do you like him? You’ve always had a weird obsession for him.”  


“I don’t,” he said, but as soon as those words left his mouth, he wasn’t so sure about them. Did he like Malfoy? He liked spending time with him, he liked that they could talk and just understand each other without the need to explain things, he also liked how caring he was with the kids, and the fact that he was trying to better himself. He was also incredibly hot, especially when he wore his glasses, but that wasn’t the point.  


“Are you thinking about it?” Ron smiled, the smug bastard. “Just... I know you don’t need my approval, but like, if you do like Malfoy, it's cool. I might not like him yet, but what he said when he came over to apologise to Hermione, and then when he came here after Fred’s funeral, it was really nice. I don’t know if I’ll ever trust him, but I want to see you happy.”  


“Okay you are going a bit too far, mate. I might find him attractive but that doesn’t mean I wanna marry him. He is hot sure, and we get along, but that's it. Besides, I don’t think he likes me.”  


“He does.”  


“How can you be so sure about it?”  


“The way he looks at you.”  


“With less hate than he has for most people?” he wondered.  


“Well, yes, but he seems... comfortable. I’ve never seen him looking comfortable. It’s like he really trusts you?”  


“That doesn’t mean he likes me in that way.”  


“Maybe, but it does seem like you are becoming something for him.”  


“You spend too much time watching TV. Still surprised Hermione let you keep it.”  


“I’m serious. Think about this.”  


“I will.” Whether he wanted to or not, he knew he was going to think about it anyway. What if Ron was right? What if Malfoy liked him? He had the feeling he would have to be the one to bring it up if that was the case, because it seemed that Malfoy still felt unworthy of love.  


“Well this might take a while, I’ll show you the papers Robards gave me for you,” Ron said, interrupting his thoughts.

  


An hour later Malfoy was working on the Map with Hermione’s help. He was wearing his glasses, all clear and big with a metal frame, his tongue between his teeth and the wand firm in his hand.  


“Potter, I can feel you starting at me,” he said after a while.  


“What is it?”  


“I just wanted to see, in case I need to do it for the missing part,” he lied, although now that he thought about it that might have been a possibility.  


“Do you think McGonagall is gonna let us use Dumbledore's pensive?”  


“Yes, if we tell her what we need it for."  


“Then we can go there tomorrow and look at your memories.”  


“If that’s what you want," he said, not wanting to push him too much, especially not in front of Ron and Hermione.  


They worked all afternoon on their respective jobs, and when the time finally came to go back to Hogwarts, Harry was feeling happier than he had in a long time. Now that he had basically been forced to think about it, he realised how much he enjoyed having Malfoy around. He was smart, and still annoying at times but it just made him laugh now, and he was also sweet and nice.  


“I’m gonna ask McGonagall if we can use the pensive tomorrow, I’ll let you know in the morning,” Malfoy told him as soon as they stepped inside the castle.  


“Alright, thanks.”  


He simply nodded and walked away, leaving Harry to admire his back and the way his trousers covered his arse. Okay, maybe he liked him a bit, so what? Malfoy was fit, big deal.  


He went back to his room, ready to just plop on his bed and sleep.

  
***  


The next morning he got the okay from Malfoy, and in the afternoon they decided to meet up and just do it.  


Harry could see from his shoulders how tense Malfoy was. He looked a bit pale, and very nervous, but he was nothing if not determined.  


“I’ll need an entire pack of cigarettes after this.”  


“I’m here.”  


“And that helps because?”  


“Because we somewhat get along, and I will not watch you break down.”  


“Thanks.” He took a deep breath and got closer to the pensive. “How bad is it?”  


“It's the memory of me going to him the day of the war. I left out the actual battle, just the interesting parts with the forest. We can go out as soon as we get there and see him, because after that I was basically dead so I don’t have a memory of the forest on the way back.”  


“Okay, yeah that would be great.” He was holding on to the pensive, his knuckles white. “Are you scared?”  


“It's a memory, it won’t hurt us.”  


“Just seeing his face makes me sick.”  


“He won't hurt you anymore, I promise you.” He got closer and put his hand on his back. “We don’t have to. I can do this alone to freshen up my memory and then I can finish the Map with Hagrid.”  


“I want to.”  


“Okay then.” He put his memory in the pensive, and just before his face hit the surface, he felt Malfoy's hand slipping into his.  


He emerged right outside the forest. Everything was silent at the moment, the battle had been called off to give Harry the time to get to him, and yet he could feel it in the air, as if there was an echo of all the screams.  


Malfoy appeared next to him a second later, and he immediately started looking around.  


“Deep breaths, slow and steady.” He reached out again, and because neither of them were part of the memory, he actually managed to touch him and grab his hand. “Come.” 

They started following young Harry, and had it not been that he was so worried about Malfoy, he knew he would have lost his mind the second he had stepped foot inside that memory. “This is gonna take a while, I didn’t really know what path I was taking.”  


“Good for us.”  


“I suppose.”  


“How did you find him?”  


“I honestly have no idea. I just knew where I needed to go.”  


“Good thing you did. Don’t let this get to your head, but I-I don’t think I ever admired anyone like I did that night. You were everything I wanted to be, and you managed to stand up to him. I was so relieved when you won. I wanted him dead, and I really wanted you alive.”  


“You did?”  


“Yeah. I wanted to have the chance to apologise, which I of course never did because I got scared.”  


“Why were you scared? It's just me, we’ve been picking at each other for years.”  


“That's exactly why. I know you aren’t as petty as I am, but I was scared of being rejected again,” he said, while still looking around to try and memorise as many things as possible.  


“Again?” he asked, confused. When had he ever rejected Malfoy? The only thing he could think of was-  


“First year, first day of school. I wanted to be your friend so bad. Harry Potter, the boy who lived. I thought we could become friends and just win over the whole school.” He shook his head at that, clearly embarrassed. “What an idiot I was.”  


“I’m sorry I didn’t accept your hand.”  


“Well you did now.” He lifted their hands and smiled at him. “It's fine, I guess I’ve never been taught how to accept no as an answer. I was offended, I took it way too personally, so obviously the only way to go about it was to bully you.”  


“Obviously." He smiled at him and looked around as well. “Almost there.”  


“Okay.”  


“You are going great. I’m proud of you.”  


“Oh please, that’s too much even for me.”  


“I am though. I know how hard it is.”  


“How are you feeling?” he asked, trying to move the attention from himself.  


“Can I stay?”  


“Of course.” He looked at him quickly, to make sure he was ok. “Your mum was there as well, do you think that’s going to help?”  


“Not really, no. It’s just a reminder of all the wrong choices she took. Had she said no from the beginning, we wouldn’t even be here now.”  


“But she was raised just like you were. That’s what she was taught, what your grandparents wanted for her.”  


“What a fucked up family.”  


“I know the feeling,” he said, snorting.  


“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean-“  


“It’s fine, I really do understand you. The people I grew up with were horrible, I don’t really consider them as family, but yeah, I know what that’s like.”  


“Is there a chance that what I’m about to say will be used against me?”  


“Yes, but I promise I’ll be gracious about it.”  


“Wow, I feel so relieved,” he said, sarcastic. “I just wanted to let you know that I truly admire you and your strength. That’s also one of the reasons I hated you so much, because I was jealous of you and how you just took whatever came your way and made it work.”  


“Thanks, that’s really nice of you to say,” he said, taken aback by that revelation.  


“Just thought I’d let you know. Who knows, maybe one day I’ll go all in on the twisted reasons why I bullied you so much.”  


“You mean to tell me there is more? Wow, you really must have hated me a lot.”  


“Kinda,” he said, and the way he said it and looked away clearly meant that he was done talking about those things.  


“Here we are,” Harry said, almost whispering. It all felt familiar and yet so far away at the same time. He had a vague memory of what had happened, but seeing it all over again and from another prospective was a whole different feeling.  


Hagrid was there, with Narcissa Malfoy, Voldemort, Bellatrix was still alive as well, with her usual manic smile.  


He watched young Harry approach, he watched as the spirits of his loved one appeared and talked to him. Malfoy had gone very still next to him, except for his thumb that kept stroking his hand.  


And then in a couple of seconds it was over. Voldemort just pointed his wand at him and shouted an Avada Kedavra.  


Suddenly they were back in the room. Malfoy was panting next to him, his hand still in his.  


“Draco, calm down.” He got closer, and when he realised that Malfoy was not going to hex him for even thinking about doing it, he hugged him. Malfoy was taller than him, but he felt incredibly small in his arms. He was shaking and struggling to breathe, his hands were clenched in Harry’s robe and his head hidden against his neck. “He won’t hurt you, he’s not here anymore. And even if he was, I’d protect you.” He started rubbing his back. He was doing so well, up until the moment Voldemort had failed once again to kill him, he was clearly nervous but nothing major.  


“What is going on here?” McGonagall was looking at them as if they had grown a new head each, but even if Malfoy was struggling to get away from him, Harry didn’t let go.  


“Just bad memories,” Harry replied for both of them. “Calm down, Malfoy, I’m not letting go until you start breathing normally.”  


“You are fucking choking me you prat,” he said, with a lot less venom than usual.  


“Okay, just a tiny bit then.” He relaxed his grip just enough to let him move, but even then, Malfoy stayed with his head hidden against his neck. “There you go.” Without thinking about where they were and who was watching, he turned his head to bury his nose in Malfoy’s hair. Fucking hell, he just had to smell like apples didn’t he. Great.  


“What did you see?” she asked, her tone very calm and controlled.  


“The day of the battle, when I went into the forest.”  


“And how would that help you?”  


“We are trying to find a safe path, but since none of us ever went into the forest alone, at night maybe, with absolutely no protection, it’s hard to figure out something.” Subtlety was not one of his many talents.  


Malfoy laughed against his neck, and Harry thought the death stare McGonagall was sending him was well worth it. Oh Merlin he had a crush. Less than two weeks with Malfoy and he was already whipped.  


“Very well. I would like it if you didn’t give my teachers a mental breakdown, though.”  


“My fault,” Malfoy said, finally moving away from him and trying to regain his dignity back. “I wanted to help, didn’t really think things through.”  


“Alright then. Be more carful next time, I’m sure Harry can handle it alone, you don’t have to go back to those things.”  
“I will, sorry.”  


Something about that little exchange let Harry know that she knew about Draco’s problem, and suddenly he was left wondering if she had the same problems too, and if other people also had them. He knew everyone had been left with their own personal scars after the war, but he had never thought about how deep it could have been for some of them. McGonagall had seen Dumbledore dead, she had seen her students die, some of her friends, and yet she always seemed so composed, and strong.  


“Don’t think so hard, you’ll give yourself a migraine,” Malfoy mocked him.  


Only in that moment he realised that they were both staring at him. “I’m sorry, I got lost in my thoughts for a moment.”  


“All good?” Malfoy asked, now sounding concerned.  


“Yeah, I’m fine.” He smiled, and he was pretty proud when it felt genuine. “Well, we better go before we forget the layout of the forest. If you’ll excuse us.”  


“Of course. You are free to come back whenever you want.”  


“Thank you,” they said at the same time.  


“I should’ve paired you two together a long time ago,” McGonagall sighed as they were exiting the door.  


“Well that must have been quite the scene to walk into,” Harry said to break the silence while they were walking to Malfoy’s study.  


“For sure. Who would have thought.”  


_Ron’s whole family _, Harry wanted to say, but then he thought better of it and let it drop.  
__

__“So, what do you say we open my new Whisky before diving into this?”  
_ _

__“That bad, uh?”  
_ _

__“I feel fine now, just need to relax a bit.”  
_ _

__“Whisky it is then.”_ _


	3. Chapter 3

The weeks went on like this and suddenly it was already November. They worked on the Map together, drank together on Friday nights, prepared their lessons together and delivered said lessons. He had never seen so much of Malfoy in his life, and yet it seemed natural. They were always talking about something, and the best thing was that they were both so open and honest. Malfoy had opened up about his father, what it had been like growing up with him and how scared he had been of disappointing him – while now it seemed like it was his life mission to piss him off -, and Harry told him all about the Dursleys, how they had treated him, what he had had to do and how his cousin had bullied him his whole life. They were so close now he thought not even Ron and Hermione knew all those things about his childhood. And it was weird, so incredibly weird, that Malfoy knew those things about him, but at the same time it had felt natural at the time. He had wanted to tell him, and he had wanted to listen to what Malfoy wanted to share with him.  


His crush had obviously gotten worse. Now that he actually knew Malfoy and the reasons behind a lot of what he had done and what had made him hate the other boy for all those years, he couldn’t help it but like him more and more everyday. Malfoy was still an annoying prat who made fun of him, but now it felt like teasing, maybe flirting at times. He wasn’t annoyed by what he said, he was endeared.  


Other people had started noticing how close they were, so he wasn’t really surprised when Malfoy came at lunch that day looking very red in the face and holding a piece of paper.  


“Apparently some students think we look good together.” He unfolded the paper in front of him. It was a drawing of the two of them, not that great but enough to recognise who it was, and they were kissing.  


“Well, that’s a nice drawing?” he said.  


“Potter, you useless idiot,” he said, clearly too loudly, because some heads turned to stare at them and suddenly a group of girls were giggling. They were fucking giggling because of them bickering. “Fucking hell," Malfoy muttered. “What are we gonna do?”  


“I’m not doing anything. Let them be, they’ll get tired soon.” 

  


***

  


They did not, in fact, get tired. At all. A week later the News were covered with articles about the two of them and their new friendship. There were no details and only very subtle hints at the possibility of it being more than platonic, but it was clear that the information had come from an internal source.  


Malfoy was going absolutely crazy, he had been pacing up and down his room for five minutes with his hands in his hair when Harry decided that enough was enough.  


“What exactly is the problem of being linked to me? Is it because you don’t want people to know you’re gay?” Malfoy had come out to him on a Friday night after a couple glasses of whiskey. He had told him about how he used to fantasize about his Quidditch teammates, how he had had a crush on a boy for so many years he thought he was never going to get over it, and that he really wanted to fall in love and get married.  


Harry had wanted to tell him he wasn’t straight either, but for some reason he felt like keeping that information to himself a while longer. He trusted Malfoy, and he knew he had no reason to treat him any differently, but he was still scared that he might have found out about his feelings.  


“Why does it bother you so much?” he pressed, getting up and putting both hands on his shoulders to stop him. “You said you are out to your parents and friends, right?  


“I am, I just don’t like this. I don’t want to be the bad guy again, okay? The death eater who blindsided the saviour.”  


“I can release a statement if you want. Tell them to shut the fuck up ‘cause it's none of their business.”  


“I’m sorry, I’m reading too much into this.” He let himself fall dramatically on his sofa and he closed his eyes. “No one would believe there is something going on between us anyway."  


“Why not?”  


“Aren't you straight?”  


“Well, actually.”  


Malfoy sat up at that, his eyes so wide it was almost funny.  


“I’m bisexual, I think? I’m more into boys at the moment, but I did love Ginny and what we had, so yeah I think bisexual is more appropriate.”  


“I don't know, it’s just not something I talk about? Nothing personal, I don’t mind telling you, I just never felt the need to? I told Ron and Hermione only because I wanted to explain to them one of the many reasons me and Ginny didn’t work out. I wanted to experiment, to discover this new side of me and just finally be able to settle down with someone I loved.”  


“Have you? Experimented, I mean.”  


“I went out with another Auror for a while, but it never got serious between us. We both just wanted to fool around for the moment being so we called it off and I have not even been on a date since.”  


“How come?”  


“Oh you know, my job takes up most of my time, and I’m always scared some people might not be into me for the right reasons. I trusted him only because he was a colleague, he knew me and we had always gotten along.”  


“I see," was all Malfoy said.  


“Are you angry?” he asked, not able to understand what had caused the sudden change in his mood.  


“Why should I be? I just wasn't expecting this.”  


“Okay, good.” He got up from his bed to sit next to him. “So, are we trading secrets? Wanna tell me who your first boyfriend was? Or do you currently have one?”  


“Never had a proper boyfriend. I fooled around with Blaise when we were here, then I met a guy in Paris, we weren’t exclusive, it was just for sex really. I still had not come out to my parents, and they wanted me to marry a girl, so I didn’t want to get too involved and then have my heart broken. I don't think I would have fallen in love with him anyway.”  


“Is it because of the guy you have a crush on?”  


Malfoy literally chocked on his own spit, and Harry was forced to pat him on the back. “What the fuck,” he said, now rubbing his back.  


“What do you know about that?” he asked, sounding horrified.  


“You told me a couple weeks ago. You said there is this guy you’ve liked for years that you can't get out of your head.”  


“You don’t know who it is, do you?” he asked, looking paler than usual.  


“No? Why are freaking out? It's fine, it's just me.”  


“Just you, yeah. Sorry.” He closed his eyes and reclined his head against the sofa. He looked incredibly inviting like that, with his long neck exposed for him to kiss, his lips slightly parted, his hair a bit over the place. How come he had never noticed how attractive Malfoy was? Some could argue that he was busy saving the world and finding out what the boy was doing rather than paying attention to his long fingers and pretty eyes, but still. Malfoy was really good looking, he had always been, and now Harry was wondering if it could have been him instead of Blaise if only he had accepted his hand that first day. “Are you staring at me?”  


“Yes, sorry.” He mimicked his position and closed his eyes. “Do I know him?”  


“Yes," he simply said. Considering Harry was expecting a punch on the arm, he was pretty happy with the answer.  


“Is he our age?” he tried again. He opened his eyes and turned his head, only to find Malfoy already looking at him.  


“He is,” he said, not breaking eye contact.  


“So. Who was in Slytherin that year, mmh.” He tried to think about the Slytherin boys, but none of them seemed like Malfoy's type, except Blaise maybe but he had already said it was nothing serious. “He was not in Slytherin, was he?”  


“No.” He lowered his eyes on his own hands, and only now Harry noticed how nervous he seemed. He was literally torturing his hands, twisting his own fingers and pinching the skin.  


He reached out and put his hand over his, preventing him from hurting himself. “Okay, well that’s a little clue.”  


“Even if you find out, I’m not going to confirm."  


“I’m sorry, I’m being very invasive.” He just wanted to know if he had a chance, sue him. The fact that Malfoy was having a breakdown because people were hinting at them being together was telling enough, but he was nothing if not resilient.  


“I just don't think you’d like the answer."  


“Unless it's Ron, in which case I would find it really weird, I really don’t care.”  


“Oh God no, why would I like him?”  


“I don’t know, I was just asking.”  


“You can think about this, I’m going to work on the map.” He put a hand on his knee and got up, leaving him on the sofa.  


“Can I have a hint?” he shouted after him while he was leaving the room.  


“No.”  


“Uff.” He reached for the book he had been reading, and went back to planning their next lesson. 

  


It had been almost an hour, and he was still thinking about it. He had barely read anything from his book, too occupied to think about all the guys who had been in the same year as he was. What if Ginny was right and Malfoy liked him? Could it have been?  


“I’ve done it." Malfoy entered the room shouting and jumping, holding the Map against his chest as if it was his most prized possession.  


“What?” Harry looked at him confused, still lost in his own thoughts.  


“I figured out what spell they used.” His eyes were basically sparkling, Harry could not remember ever seeing him so happy and proud, and it made him feel happy. Seeing him so confident, smiling and jumping around like a kid at Christmas, and he realised in that moment that he wanted to see more of this. He wanted to be next to him when he accomplished something, because he wanted to support and cherish him. He was fucked, and not in the good way.  


“That’s amazing. I knew you could do it.” Without thinking too much about it – hello, Gryffindor? – he wrapped Malfoy in his arms and just hugged him.  


“Well I didn’t, glad you had faith in me," he whispered, holding him closer.  


“I’ll always have faith in you,” he said, and it sounded way softer that he had intended it to sound. He let go of him to look into his eyes, but he kept close enough.

“Do you think we could still be friends after this is over?”

“Of course.” He forced himself to smile, a bit disappointed about the prospect of being just friends. How could he get out of it now? He had a crush on Malfoy, his ex nemesis and newfound friend. And maybe he was being dramatic but why was it that his life was so difficult? He was pretty sure he deserved a break after what had happened but no, he had to go and fall for Draco fucking Malfoy.

“Do you wanna know which spell I used?” he asked, oblivious to his internal turmoil.

"Yeah, show me.”

“Okay so, the spell is the Homonculous Charm. The word homunculus refers to a human or humanoid, so I guess you weren’t too far off when you said it probably catches on to free will and stuff like that. Now. It's really hard to see the dots and names in the forbidden forest, mainly because it’s too intricate, but I was able to find something. There are a couple centaurs here and there, and I think I saw an acromantula.”

“You are a genius,” he said, not able to contain himself.

“Thanks.” He blushed the prettiest shade of pink, and lowered his head on the Map. “It's gonna take a while to find out who everyone is. I know a couple of centaurs and I think Hagrid can help us with a lot of other creatures, but it might take a couple of days to find what we need.”

“This is so great. Why don’t you go show Hagrid while I tell McGonagall you made some great discoveries?”

“Alright, I’ll see you at Hagrid's I guess?”

“Yeah, I’ll meet you there.” He briefly touched him while walking by, and he exited his room to go see their Headmistress.

She let him in immediately, and before he could sit down, she already had tea ready on her desk.

“So, what can I do for you?” she asked, her tone always very stern, but her soft smile betraying her.

“Actually, I just wanted to let you know that we, well Malfoy, took a pretty big step in the case and we think we might be close to finding out what's going on. He’s at Hagrid's now, we think he could help.”

“That’s great, thank you for letting me know.”

“Duty.” He smiled at her and took a sip of his tea.

“Can I ask something?”

“Of course,” he said, and his inner eleven-year-old started freaking out immediately. God, he hated that feeling.

“How is it going with Draco? You two seem really close now, there were bets going around the school that at least once a week one of you was going to be in the infirmary.”

“We are more mature now.” At that she lifted an eyebrow and looked at him sceptically. “Okay, maybe not mature. But a lot of things have changed. Malfoy has changed. He is a completely different person now, he dropped the attitude and snarky remarks, and kept his brilliant mind and impeccable manners. And the fact that he opened up, with me of all people, it made me feel like he really wants this change. I’m really glad you took him in when he needed it most, thank you.”

“As you said, he does have a brilliant mind. I was scared at first, not only because I didn’t know his intentions, but also of the reaction of some parents, but the kids just like him so much. Have you ever been to one of his lessons?”

“Only the ones we do together.”

“You should go. He is passionate about what he does, and he explains things easily. He is patient and kind when they don’t get it right, and he listens.”

“Yeah, he’s great at that." He smiled looking down at his hands, sure that he was probably looking like a fool with a crush. “He just gets me in a way no one ever has. I know everyone lost friends and family, but with the war he lost himself too, just like I did. He wasn’t Draco Malfoy anymore, he was Draco Malfoy the Death Eater, just like I was some sort of hero. And before that, we both had to live up to impossible standards, we were indoctrinated and made to believe things that weren’t true.”

“I don’t think I’m supposed to tell you this, but it's not like he is going to hex me, is he?” Harry gave her a dubious expression, but she kept talking. “You came up a lot in our conversations. He often said how much he regretted not apologising to you, and that the more time passed, the least he could do it. He's said he has written you lots of letters, but he’s never been able to send any of them.”

“He apologised the first day I came here.”

“Will you do me a favour and remind him about that every once in a while? Before you arrived, he always had this sad expression, like something was missing, but now he is finding himself again.”

“I'll tell him again,” he said, feeling weirdly chocked up. “Actually, I think I'll do it right now. Thanks for the tea.” He said, getting up quickly and leaving while she was still saying goodbye.

He basically ran to Hagrid’s hut, and when he entered after greeting Hagrid, he found Malfoy sitting next to the fire, his cheeks pink because of the heat, and Fang sitting at his feet.

“We found-" Malfoy started, but he cut him off immediately.

“I need to talk with you.”

“Alright?” he said, almost like a question. He got up and they both said bye to Hagrid, who was just looking at them in a very weird way. He couldn’t blame him.

“I had a talk with McGonagall,” he started, nervous all of a sudden. “Fuck, not here.” He took his hand and started dragging him toward the greenhouses.

“Potter, I like being manhandled but what is this?” he asked, struggling to keep up with him.

“Just bear with me.”

“Do I have a choice?”

Harry didn’t answer and kept walking, or running more like.

When they got there no one was around, and they sneaked inside the first greenhouse they found.

“She told me to remind you that I forgive you.”

“You took me here to tell me this?”

“She also said you wrote me letters that you never sent.”

“Fuck,” he muttered, staring at a point over his shoulder as to not meet his eyes. “What else did she say?” he asked, clearly scared she might have revealed too much.

“That she's never seen you so happy.”

“Why does she hate me?” He covered his face to take a deep breath, frustrated. “Listen-“

“Is it me?” he asked, not able to stand it anymore.

“It's-" He stopped, kicked the ground in anger and just spun around. “It's you, yes.”

“Why are you not looking at me?” He gently put a hand on his waist, but he didn’t force him to turn around. “Draco, can you please look at me?” he asked in the gentles tone he could manage.

“I don’t want to lose what we have. It took me years to become your friend.”

“You're not going to lose me. I'm not going anywhere.” He stepped up closer and hugged him from behind, leaning his head against his shoulder.

“Is it mistletoe over out heads? Is this school for real?”

Harry looked up and started laughing. It was mistletoe. “Is this even the right season?” he asked, laughing against his neck.

“Not my subject, sorry.”

“You are brilliant at everything, though."

“Not at relationships nor at confessing my feelings,” he said bitterly.

“Yeah, that you suck at." He let go of him and finally Draco turned around. “Hi.” He smiled at him, feeling so happy he almost started jumping on the spot. “You are supposed to kiss me.” He pointed his finger to the ceiling.

“Do you really want me to?”

“I do. A lot actually, so if you could please just-" For probably the first time in his life, Draco actually listened to him. He closed the distance between them and held on tight to his sweater, while Harry brought his hands up to his neck and toyed with the strands of hair that had escaped his bun. Their first kiss was pretty innocent, no tongue or uncomfortable scraping of teeth, but it still left Harry feeling breathless. It felt like it had been a long time coming, and they both were desperate to keep it going as long as possible and just stay in the moment forever.

When they finally parted, they were both panting and they simply refused to let go of the other.

“I’ve been waiting for this moment ever since I found out what a French kiss was,” Draco breathed against his lips, laughing embarrassedly.

“A pretty fantastic kiss, if I do say so myself."

“What did it mean?” he asked, barely more than a whisper.

“Whatever you want it to. I mean, earlier you were freaking out about the possibility of people thinking we are together, so I’m not really sure what you want from me right now.”

“I was freaking out, as you say, because I was scared you were going to realise that they were right and that I do have feelings for you.”

“Well that ended pretty well, didn’t it?” He smiled at him and put a lock of his hair behind his ear. “I like you. I don’t know where this will take us, but no one is stopping us from just trying.”

“You really want that? With me?”

“I really do.” He leaned in to give him a quick peck.

“Then I’d love to try,” he said, and he was blushing. He looked so pretty like this, with his cheeks red and his hair a bit wild, just like he had looked in school after two hours spent over a cauldron preparing a potion. 

“Good.” He kissed him again, not able to stop himself now that he could finally do it.

“Should we keep it a secret for now? At least while you’re still here.”

“Yeah, they are already obsessed with us.”

“Can’t blame them.” He put his hand on his cheek to caress him. “I can’t believe this.”

“I know.” He almost felt giddy with how happy he was. Never in a million years had he thought that he could like Draco, and yet there he was, kissing him. “I wanna take you out on a date. Something posh and pretentious.”

“I don’t need to be wooed.” He slightly rolled his eyes, but his beaming smile betrayed him.

“I want to do things right, and you deserve the best.”

“Do I?” he asked, now shy again. Malfoy and his mood swings, that was going to take time for Harry to get used to. 

“Of course. We are going to do things properly, I really think we can make this work. Despite our past and what happened between us, I truly believe in us.”

“I should have known you were a sap,” he said, faking annoyance, clearly not used to hearing those things and thus at a loss of what to say.

“That’s on you, it was pretty obvious.” He pinched his side and smiled when he flinched. “Should we go back inside? So you can tell me what you found out?”

“Yeah, let’s go.”

As it turned out, Hagrid had been able to identify a lot of names. Draco had written down as many as he could, with a brief description next to the creatures Hagrid had recognised, a question mark next to unfamiliar names, and he had started to write down other names as well before Harry had interrupted them.

***

The next day Harry was bored. Not just bored, he was lonely. He had spent the evening before with Draco cuddled up against his side, his head resting against his shoulder and his whole body melted against his. They had cuddled until midnight, then Harry had decided to go back to his room, where he had regretted his decision because he was cold and he missed him already. Okay maybe he was a sap, so what.

He decided to take McGonagall’s advice and go see Draco at work. He wasn’t sure how he would have taken it, but he still put on his invisibility cloak and left.

He waited for some students to go inside the classroom, the he sneaked into the room and hid in the corner, waiting for the lesson to start.

Draco looked simply beautiful behind his desk, with his platinum hair in a messy bun, the glasses that he only used to read perched on his nose and his black robe that contrasted perfectly with his skin. God, he really wanted to kiss him.

“Good morning, shall we start?” Draco said when the last student entered the room.

Everyone seemed pretty relaxed, yet very curious. He remembered what it felt like being a student, how scary and intimidating it was, how many times he was made to feel stupid, mainly by Snape, but these students seemed happy to be there. He wouldn’t have minded having a teacher who looked like Draco, that he was sure of.

“Today we are going to practice with the Avifors spell again, alright? And if you manage that you can go ahead and try the counter spell. If you need me to show you again how it's done you can ask, but I’d really like to see you try first.”

All the students nodded and started to work. A couple of them managed at the first try, and Draco was quick to praise them, but he never forgot about the other ones. He spent five minutes with a girl who was going crazy, and when she managed to get the spell right, he seemed happier than her.

Harry didn’t even notice the time passing, too lost admiring Draco and studying him. He really was amazing with the kids.

“Alright,” Draco called out “that's all for today. Remember to practice the spells for next week, I'll give each of you a grade so please be prepared,” he said, as birds were flying about the classroom.

The students got up quickly, most of them left the room talking quietly between them, but a couple of Slytherin boys stopped to talk with him.

“Professor?” one of them asked. He was the shortest one, very small and fragile looking, but he was keeping his head up.

“Yes, Cameron?”

“You said we could come to you if we had a problem.”

Harry wanted to left, he didn’t feel comfortable listening in to that conversation, but the door had already been closed and he had no place to go.

“Of course. Did something happen?” he asked, immediately concerned.

“There are a couple of Gryffindor who keep cornering us. They are older and usually more than us. They keep saying that we don't deserve to be here.”

Harry wanted to bang his head against the wall. Six years since the battle and this shit was still going on.

“Why would that be?” Draco asked, and Harry could see by the tension in his shoulders that he was trying really hard not to get angry.

“They said that Harry Potter didn’t fight for us to still walk around this school, that he must hate us all and that we should just leave.”

“Well I can assure you that Harry Potter doesn’t think these things. He is my friend, surely he should hate me more than you since I was there when it happened.” He smiled at them and waited for them to nod. “I will talk with the head of their house and make sure this doesn’t happen again, okay?”

“Thank you," the three boys said at the same time.

“Of course.” He watched them leave, then he collapsed on his chair and hid his face behind his hands.

“Since I’m not a teacher, do you think it would be appropriate for me to sit with them at dinner?”

Draco almost jumped out of his chair as soon as he heard his voice. “Harry, what the fuck? Where are you?”

Harry took off the cloak and got closer to the desk. “I didn’t want to listen to that, I just couldn’t leave.”

“What are you doing here?”

“I missed you?”

“So you thought you would just be a creep? I would have said yes, you know.”

“I’m sorry, I just really wanted to come today.”

“That’s fine.” He took his hand and made him walk around the desk until he was in front of him.

“You are a great teacher.” He smiled when Draco put his head against his stomach, already exhausted at ten in the morning. “And a great example for the kids." He started playing with his hair, marvelling once again about how soft and silky it was.

“I’m a great example of what they shouldn’t do.”

“Stop it, you are a good person.” He scratched lightly behind his ear, and Draco immediately started rubbing his head against him. “And also a very cuddly one.”

“I slept like shit, I had another nightmare.”

“You wanna talk about it?”

“I-I keep seeing your memory from the forest. His face when he kills you. That’s reason I panicked after your memory, it wasn’t just because I saw him again, it was because I had seen you die. You have no idea how many nights I woke up screaming from a nightmare because I didn’t know if you were fine, what you were doing. And then when you showed up at the Manor, I wanted nothing more than to follow you, and help you. I wanted to protect you and I also wanted you to save me.”

“Oh, Draco.” He pushed him away just enough to look into his eyes. He wasn’t crying, but his eyes looked very red and puffy. “I’m sorry I couldn’t do that for you.”

“You saved us all in the end. And you saved me from the fire.”

“Of course. Now I finally realise why I spent so much time thinking about you holding on to me on that broom.”

Draco smiled at that and hid his face against his tummy once more.

“What if today we don’t work and just cuddle all evening?” he proposed.

“I have some papers to grade for tomorrow,” he said, clearly unhappy about that. If there was something Draco hated, it was grading papers. He loved preparing his lessons and working with the kids, but he absolutely despised grading, especially when he had to give a bad grade to someone he knew was trying really hard. Harry had witnessed it more than once in the months the had spent together, and he never stopped finding it amusing, the way he would just walk around a room reading out questions and cursing at a dumb answer.

“Then I’ll cuddle you while you work.”

“Yes, because that wouldn't be distracting at all.”

“Oh, am I distracting?” he asked, teasing him.

“Fucker.”

Harry laughed at that, so incredibly happy about what was going on between them. “I was also thinking about going on a date this Saturday. Would you like that?”

“I’d love to.” He lifted his head to look at him. “No need for anything fancy, we don’t even need to eat out, maybe just a walk around muggle London?”

“I said I was going to do this properly.” He leaned down and kissed him quickly. “I’m gonna plan our date, you have fun teaching.”

“Thank you.” He held him in place and demanded another kiss. “I’ll see you at lunch?”

“Maybe, I have a couple of things I need to do for Robards before he comes here and kills me, so I was thinking about stopping in London to see what we can do. Before you say that I don’t need to, I really want to. Neither of us has ever had this with anyone, let me spoil you.”

“Okay, just don’t go over the top, it would be hard for me to beat you.”

“Oh, I didn't know it was a competition.”

“Everything is a competition between us.”

“True. Okay, stop it, now _you_ are distracting me.” He moved away before Draco could hold on to him and kiss him again. “See you later.”

“Bye" he said, laughing quietly.

“You little menace,” he muttered while he was leaving the room.

He went back to his room to put away the cloak and collect what Robards had sent him, and then he left for muggle London. Apparently, a wizard had been selling real love amulets to tourists, and there had been many calls to the department to get rid of the spells.

He walked around London for a while, trying to detect any sign of magic, and finally he found something when he walked past two young girls who were giggling and holding a necklace each.

He approached them as carefully as possible, trying to not look like a creep. “I’m sorry to bother you, can I ask where you found those necklaces? It looks like something my girlfriend would love," he said casually.

“She's going to love the necklace, and you even more," one of them said, laughing. Yep, found them.

“It's just over the corner,” the other girl said, “turn right and then go to the end of the street, you can’t miss it.”

“Thank you so much.” He smiled at them, then quietly murmured a Confundus and took the necklaces from them. “Have a good day.”

“You too,” one of the girls said, looking at her friend to try and figure out what was happening to her.

He hid the necklaces inside his coat and walked quickly to the shop. The idiot wasn’t even trying to be subtle. Outside the shop was a huge sign shaped like a heart with ‘Happily ever after’ written on it. He shook his head, embarrassed for his own kind, and sent a message to Ron to come and get him while he kept him occupied.

He quickly changed his hair to auburn and hid his scar, then he went inside.

“Hello, my dear.” An old wizard came out from behind a curtain. “What can I do for you?”

“I saw two girls holding a necklace and thought it would be perfect for my girlfriend.”

“Oh, but of course. Let me see what me have here.” He opened a box over his desk and showed him its content. There were at least fifty necklaces, around twenty rings and a couple of bracelets. “We also have perfumes.”

“What do they smell like?” he asked, even though he was pretty sure he already knew the answer.

“Why don’t you tell me?” He moved away from behind the desk and recovered a bottle of perfume. “Smell it, tell me what it reminds you of.”

Despite himself Harry took a sniff, and he couldn’t exactly say he was surprised when he smelled apples and the typical smell of the lake, followed by the posh perfume Malfoy bought every time he visited his parents in Paris. “Apples," he simply said.

“Well, well, well.” Ron opened the door with his red robe blowing in the wind.

“Fuck,” the wizard said, but before he could move Harry stopped him with a simple charm.

“Sorry man, you know it's against the law.”

“Fucking hell."

“Take him, boys," Ron told the two guys behind him. “Go ahead, I’ll come soon.”

“Yes, sir,” one of them said. Ron loved new Aurors so much, it was his favourite time of the year when they came out of training and started working with them.

They took the man and brought him outside to apparate with him.

“Well, long time no see,” Ron said, closing the door behind himself.

“We saw each other two weeks ago," he said, changing back to his normal self. “Did you want to talk about something?”

“Actually, yes.” He blushed a bit at that. “Do you want to get coffee?”

“Sure. Maybe change.”

“Eh? Oh, right.” He quickly changed to muggle clothes, and together they left the shop to wander around and look for a coffee shop.

They eventually found a small one that gave them enough privacy and provided good coffee. It had a huge wood counter were some people were getting served, with pastries on display underneath. All the walls except the one behind the counter were windows, with a view on people walking by and going through their days.

They opted to sit far away from the door, at a small table in the corner.

“So?” Harry asked, looking at his best friend after coffee had been served.

“Hermione and I decided to have a kid," he said, and even though he sounded happy, his eyes were wild and scared.

“Okay, now the bad part.” He tried to smile encouragingly at him, knowing very well that at times it took Ron a little push to open up.

“I don’t know if I can do it. Harry, I’m not good with kids, kids hate me,” he said, looking very much desperate and on the verge of a breakdown.

“They don’t, you are just awkward around them. Teddy took a while but eventually he warmed up to you. You’re gonna be an amazing father, I promise you.”

“How do you know?”

“You are a caring person, you'd give your life for the people you love, you are an amazing husband, and don’t forget about the woman who’s gonna do this all with you. You might fuck up, and Hermione might fuck up, but you have each other and your love. Every kid would be lucky just to live in a family with so much love to give. Not to mention your mother. She will help too, whether you like it or not.”

“So you think it's the right time?” he asked, hopeful that Harry had all the answers.

“Why not? I really think you two will be great parents.”

“Thanks, I needed this.” He relaxed against his chair and took a sip of coffee. “I'm just scared to fuck up, and that Hermione will get pissed at me and my kid won’t take me seriously or something.”

“Hermione loves you, she knows and trusts you, if she says she wants a kid with you, it's because she knows you can do it. You grew up with so many siblings and an amazing father, there is no way you can fuck this up. Besides, if you give your kids love that’s really all that matters, and I know you will love and support them with everything you have.”

“Really?” He looked so scared Harry almost got up to hug him, instead he settled on reaching out and putting his hand on his arm in a reassuring way.

“Of course. You’ve been by my side most of my life, I know you, and I know you can do this.”

“Thanks, Harry, it means a lot.” He patted his hand in return, and Harry eventually let go.

“I’d advise you to bring this up to Hermione though, just so she knows what is going on inside your head. And if you realise you are not ready, I’m sure she will say you can wait a little longer.”

“Yeah, maybe I should. I know she would understand, but she was so happy at the idea, I don’t want to let her down.” He started toying with his cup, making Harry flinch every time he held it with one finger. Ron was a real mess when he was nervous, he could have dropped even the stickiest thing in the world.

“It's Hermione we are talking about, she will be so happy to know you opened up with her and talked things through. It means you are taking this seriously and you really thought about it.”

“Yes, you are right. I’ll talk to her tonight.”

“Let me know how it goes.” He finished his coffee in one go and relaxed against his chair. Bad move.

“I will.” He smiled at him and then leaned in. “How are things going with Malfoy?”

“Uh, well, we have a date on Saturday,” he said, feeling his cheeks heat up.

“It was about time, mate. Where are you going?”

“I actually came here today to find a place. He said he doesn’t need anything fancy, but I just, I wanna make him feel special, I guess? He’s never had a proper boyfriend before, I want to give him the full experience.”

“Boyfriends, mmh?” He didn’t even try to hide his grin. The bastard. And here Harry was, listening to his breakdown, only to be repaid with his smugness.

“We are working on that, yes. We, well, we kissed yesterday.” He blushed even more at the thought of their first kiss.

“That’s nice. You seem happy, I’m really, really excited for you.”

“Even if it's Malfoy?”

“As long as you are happy and he is not a dickhead. I haven’t seen you like this... never, really. Maybe it was because there was a lot going on, but you never looked this happy with Ginny. You looked in love, maybe, but not like this. It's like you are always giddy and finally ready to live life at the fullest. You know what I mean?”

“He makes me feel like it's worth it," he admitted, looking down at his hands. “And he gets me, like no one ever has. I never understood what you and Hermione had, how you always got each other and just knew immediately what the other was thinking, how you could be so compatible. But now I do. It's like we are on the same wavelength, and we can talk about everything. He even told me things about his dad, things he’d never said before.”

“You are in deep, my friend.” He reached over to pat his shoulder.

“I know. Shit.” He laughed, incredulous. “Malfoy, I fell for Malfoy of all people.”

“Better him than Goyle I guess. Or Pansy. At least Malfoy never tried to turn you in to Voldemort.”

“Very true. Kudos to him.” He lifted his cup in the air as if to toast. “I-I showed him what happened that day in the forest.”

“You did? And how did it go?” He sounded curious, but not in a nosy way, which was something Harry really appreciated in that moment.

“He had nightmares about it. He said it was so hard to watch it happen.”

“That’s good, I guess? I mean, it seems like he cares?”

“He does. You should see him with the kids, he’s so great with them." He thought about a couple hours before, how nice and understanding he had been with his students.

“Look at you, you are fucking beaming.”

“Stop it.” He tried to hide his grin, but he knew it was too late. “Do you know any nice restaurants he might like?”

“Wizard or muggle?”

“Muggle. We want to keep this to ourselves for now.”

“Mmh, I’ll ask Hermione.” He took out a cell phone from his jeans, and Harry almost started choking. “She insisted on me having this, especially if we have a kid. I still don’t get how it works. These tiny buttons are horrible.” He flipped the phone open and started pressing buttons as if it were a writing machine.

“Do you need help?” he asked, unable to contain his laughter. There was something so incredibly hilarious about wizards using muggle things, especially technology.

“I got this, she said I just need to practice.”

“You sure do.”

“I’m doing this for you, don't be an asshole.”

“Sorry, it’s just so funny. Can you let Draco use it? I want to see how long it takes him to give up and blame the phone.”

“Nothing would give me more pleasure than seeing Malfoy frustrated,” he said, while he was still trying to type. “Merlin, took me long enough.” He closed the phone and left it on the table. “Hermione gave me your number, I wanted to send you a text but I figured an owl would take less time.”

“You are nothing if not self-aware.”

“That I am.” He looked down at his phone vibrating. “How has she answered already? Is there a thing that woman can’t do?” He opened the text and showed the names of the various restaurants to Harry. “She says I can send this text to you but I forgot how.”

“Don’t worry, no reception at Hogwarts so I didn’t bring my phone.”

“Are you staying there full time? I thought you might be going home from time to time.”

“It’s easier that way. Besides, I have a lot of work to do, we are still working on the Map, then I have the things Robards sends me, and we have to prepare our lessons.”

“So you are staying to spend time with Malfoy, got it,” he said without missing a beat.

“I guess that too. It’s just really nice to spend time with him, we have fun together but we also have serious moments. Hopefully, now there will be also some cuddles.”

“Look at you.” He pinched his cheek and retracted his hand before Harry could slap him. “Do you think he’d like to come have dinner at our house? Just so we can get to know him better and he can get to know us.”

“Are you drunk? Running a fever maybe?”

“C’mon, I’m trying to be nice,” he said, laughing at Harry’s disbelieving expression. “We all grew up after the war, if he can change, so can I. And if my best friend ends up falling in love with him, I need to at least stand his presence.”

“Thank you, it means a lot. I will ask him if it’s something he would like to do one of these days.”

“Alright, just let me know. Does it mean you will also have to meet his friends?” He looked positively horrified at that.

“I guess. Although I don’t know how things are with them. They don’t talk much, he said they all tried to move on after the war and being friends reminded them too much of what had happened, so we will see. I’m also not particularly excited to meet Blaise.”

“How come?”

“He and Draco used to fool around. Not someone I’m eager to meet if I have to be honest.”

“Fair enough. But was there something between them?”

“No, apparently Draco’s had a crush on me for quite a long time, he was never really interested in Blaise.” He tried to ignore the fact that he could feel his cheeks heating up.

“Could you two be any cuter.” He pinched his cheek again.

“Okay, you went straight from father-to-be to old grandma at family gatherings.” He slapped his hand away.

“Sorry, I’m just happy for you.” He smiled at him, then suddenly his face fell. “Harry, you do realise who his parents are, right?”

“I was trying not to think about this, thank you very much.” He sighed and leaned back against the chair once more. The idea of even being in the same room as Lucius Malfoy was quite frankly terrifying. Nothing mattered, not the war, not its outcome, that man had something sinister about him that made him feel incredibly uneasy. “I just don’t know how to let Draco know that I hate his father.”

“If he doesn’t know already, he is not as bright as you think.”

“You know what I mean. He knows I hate him because of the war, but that man really creeps me out. Hopefully Draco will help. I think his mother will also be nice enough.”

“It’s going to be fine. It won’t happen for a while, right?”

“I guess not, we haven’t even had our first date yet. I’m going too fast, aren’t I?”

“A tiny bit, but I asked you so you can blame me.”

“Thanks.”

“Well, some of us have to go back to work, I’ll fire-call you later this evening, alright?”

“Sure, say hi to Hermione for me.”

“If everything goes well, she’ll be there as well.”

“Okay then. You go, coffee on me.”

“Thanks, mate.” They hugged quickly, then Ron left and Harry took care of paying.

He spent his afternoon going around London, looking at all the restaurants Hermione had recommended, and he eventually settled on _Le Gavroche_. It didn’t look special from the outside, but they had French food and good wine, things he was sure Draco would appreciate.

He managed to make a reservation without using magic, for which he was very glad considering he was an Auror, and finally he headed back when it was almost two in the afternoon.

He went straight to Draco’s room, feeling rather nervous for some reason. He knocked, and waited patiently for Draco to let him in.

“Hello, there.” Draco smiled at him as soon as the door opened. “How was your day?” he asked, taking his hand and pulling him inside. He sat back on the sofa and picked up a cup of tea, pointing to another one in offering 

He sat next to him and warmed his hand with the cup, trying to buy himself some time. Why he was freaking out all of a sudden, he had no idea. “Great, I found the wizard who was selling stuff to muggles, I had coffee with Ron, and I found the perfect place for our date. How was your day?”

“No, more about our date,” he said, suddenly looking a lot like a kid.

“No, it’s a surprise.”

“Oh, please.” He took his hand, and really, how was Harry supposed to deny him anything when he was looking at him like that and touching him.

“It’s a French restaurant, very posh.”

“I like how it sounds.”

“I knew you would. You don’t fool me with your simple date shit.”

Draco just laughed at that, his soft, kind of shy laugh that was reserved for when they were alone. Not that he laughed that much around other people, but it was definitely more posed when it happened. “I would have loved that too, I’m just really happy we are going on a date.”

“Me too.” He leaned in for a quick kiss. “So, Ron asked if you’d like to have dinner with them sometime? He wants to get to know you better.”

Draco visibly tensed at that. “If you want me to, sure.”

“I want you to get along with my friends, but you don’t have to do anything if you don’t want to. Ron is just really happy for me; he knows how important you are to me and he wants you two to get along. Or well, to at least not hate each other?”

“I can do that, I know how important this is to you.”

“They are my family.” He smiled at Draco, happy that he had said yes. “Thank you, it really means a lot.”

“I know.” He brought him closer so that Harry could rest his head on his shoulder. “I guess you’ll also have to meet my family sooner or later.” He sighed, clearly not happy at the idea. “You really don’t have to, I can’t Imagine you like my father that much.” He left a kiss in his hair, and Harry felt so warm all over. He was so embarrassing, Ron was never going to stop taking the piss.

“I don’t, but he is your father.”

“So what? We barely talk. I won't force you to meet them, I won’t even ask you to. When and if you feel ready, you can let me know.”

“Draco?”

“Yeah?” he said, his lips once again pressed against his head and his nose buried in his hair.

“We are really doing this.”

“Looks like it.” He rested his chin over his head, hugging him closer to his chest. “It doesn’t feel that different, does it? I feel like we are talking like we used to before, and when we touch it just feels so... natural?”

“It does. I was worried it was going to be weird at first, like how it always is at the beginning of a relationship, but I just wanna cuddle you as much as I can.”

“Me too. Can you please solve the case but pretend like you didn’t so you can stay here?”

“I'd love that.” He rubbed his head against him, feeling needy. “Do you like sleeping here?”

“I guess? Why?” he asked, confused by the sudden change of topic.

“We won't see each other often when I’m done with this case, I was wondering if you’d consider sleeping at my house every once in a while? ‘Cause I know I probably won’t be allowed inside anymore once I’m done, but I’d really like to spend time with you.”

“We can do that, yeah. Be very domestic and cute.”

“I'd love that. What do you say we make dinner for Ron and Hermione? So we could stay at my place instead of going over. Would that help?”

“Yeah, that sounds nice. Although you must know that I’m clueless at cooking.”

“Well I’m pretty good, I can teach you something. It’s a bit like preparing potions, you just have to follow the recipe and it’s done, and you are great at that.”

“You know, you are amazing for my self-esteem, thank you.”

“Anytime.”

  


They spent the afternoon on the sofa, talking and reading and then talking again, Draco's legs over Harry’s for most of the time.

When they arrived at the Great Hall, Harry excused himself, and under Draco's confused gaze he went to the Slytherin table. He immediately recognised the boys from that morning, and he smiled at them. “Can I sit with you for a moment?” he asked, pointing at the empty space in front of them. He could feel a lot of people staring at him, but he didn’t particularly care.

“Of course," said the smaller one who had done most of the talking earlier.

“I just wanted to have a few words with you.”

They all got super serious very quickly, and leaned forward to listen to everything he was about to say.

“I talked with professor Malfoy earlier, and he told me you had some trouble with a couple of Gryffindors.”

All three boys nodded, looking rather ashamed.

“Well I just wanted to remind you that I don’t hate any of you. You weren’t even here when it happened, you have nothing to be embarrassed about. Your house is a strong one, and yes, a lot of dark wizards came from here, but also many great ones. And I want you to be the next good ones. Do you want to know a secret?”

They nodded even harder, eyes wide and excited at the prospect of knowing a secret.

“The hat almost sorted me in Slytherin.”

“Why did it change its mind?” another one of the boys asked.

“I’m not sure, " he lied, because he was there to give them a pep talk, not to let them know he had been so scared of their house that he had begged the hat to not put him in Slytherin. “But it would have been an amazing house. Your own transfiguration teacher was one of you, and he is pretty amazing.” He quickly chanced a glance at Draco, and he gave him a shy smile when he found him already looking.

“Thank you, sir," the smaller boy said.

“Of course. And if those guys bother you again, tell them to come talk to me, okay?”

“Yes," they all said, clearly way too excited at the idea.

“Well then, see you soon.” He got up and left for the teachers’ table. McGonagall was looking at him in a weird way, but she didn’t seem pissed or disappointed so he counted that as a win. Draco, on the other hand, was barely holding back a huge smile. Not a grin or his usual smirk, but a real smile. He looked so happy and proud. Harry wanted to kiss him right in front of everyone. But he was not going to, no, that would have been extremely inappropriate. Although... no, inappropriate, one hundred percent.

“Thank you," Draco whispered as soon as he was sitting next to him.

“They don’t deserve this, no one does.”

“I know. I hate that we are still living in a world were people hate on a specific category. Muggles, half bloods, now a house. It's so stupid.”

“I know.” He sighed and picked at his food. “I was thinking ... I usually give a speech for the Christmas party at the Ministry, would you like to come with me? I want to bring this up, and who better to do it than a teacher?”

“I don’t think it's a good idea.”

“Why not?” he asked with a mouthful of mashed potatoes. Okay, maybe he was disgusting from time to time.

“No one would listen to me.”

“Okay I hate to use my famous card, but people listen to me, they trust me, and I trust you. If you tell them what’s going on here, and you show them how deeply you care and that people can change, maybe some of them will go home and tell their kids that not all Slytherins are bad.”

“I don’t know. Can I think about this?’

“Of course you can.”

“Thanks.”

“Don't lose your mind over this. Mine was just an idea, nothing more. It's completely up to you,” he said, noticing how Draco had tensed up at the idea. He really wasn’t good at hiding his bad feelings. Smiles and being happy? He was great at not showing that, but when he was upset it was written all over his face and Harry really couldn’t stand to see him like that.

“I know, I just- what if they just tell me that I have no place there?”

“Then I don’t have a place there either. Listen, I'm really serious about us, whether we go there as a couple or not, I will support you.”

“You noble Gryffindor.”

“I just care about the people who are important to me, and you are one of them.”

“Eat quickly, I wanna kiss you.”

“Where have your manners gone, Malfoy?” he faked being scandalized, making Draco laugh and relax just a tiny bit.

“I spend too much time with you.”

“You probably do” he agreed. It was true after all. Even with Ron he got bored after a whole day spent together, and yet here he was, spending most of his waking time with Draco and not getting tired for even a second.

They ate as fast as they could without looking desperate or crazy, then they left under the scrutinizing gaze of lots of kids in the hall. Some of them were whisperings, others just watching.

“Not creepy at all,” Draco muttered when they were almost out of the door.

“Just a bunch of kids obsessed with us, all good.”

“I’m about to start running.”

“Relax,” he said, holding back a laugh. “My room or yours?” he asked once they were out of earshot. “I’m waiting for a fire call from Ron, so maybe mine is better,” he added after thinking about it.

“Fine by me. I’ll just leave when he calls.”

“Why would you?”

“I don’t think Weasley would appreciate me listening in to his private conversations.”

“Okay, you have a point, but you don’t have to leave. Just give me five minutes with Ron and hopefully Hermione and then we can talk about dinner at my place.”

“Alright."

“You look cute tonight,” he said, not able to control himself. He just wanted to make him smile, to make him feel appreciated.

“Oh, shut up.” He pushed him lightly with his shoulder, but not even the terrible lightning in the corridor could hide his red cheeks.

“You do.”

“Potter, you better stop.”

“Are we back to using surnames then? ‘Cause that gets me hot.”

“Oh my god.” This time when he pushed him, he didn’t hold back. “I hate you.”

“No, you don’t, you wouldn’t be spending all this time with me if that was the case.” He quickly looked around, then he got closer and grabbed his hand. “I really like this. Can’t wait to do this Saturday evening.”

“Me, too,” he almost whispered.

They reached Harry’s room in silence, still holding hands and exchanging sappy smiles all the way there. Ron was going to hate this so much, Harry couldn’t wait.

“Ron usually calls me around eight, what do you want to do in the meantime?” he asked once they were in the safety of his room. He sat down and brought Draco with him, immediately putting his arm over his shoulders to keep him close.

“This is nice, we can do this,” he said, and from his voice Harry could tell how tired he was. He had been working so hard on the Map, and on top of that he had to grade papers and work on their lessons together and he always made it his priority to find time for Harry.

“I’d let you take a nap but then you wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight.”

“I’m just resting my eyes,” he said, rubbing his cheek against Harry’s shoulder.

“Whatever you say, babe.”

“Babe?” he asked, still sounding half asleep.

“Ssh, go back to sleep,” he said, embarrassed. Draco was never going to let him get away with this one. He knew Draco wasn’t the type of person for pet names, but it had just slipped out.

“It’s okay, I like it. Just this one, though.”

“Yeah? Okay, then.” He turned his head slightly and accioed a book from the table, trying his best not to move Draco too much.

  


Less than an hour later, Draco was sleeping on his shoulder and his fireplace was coming alive with Ron’s face.

“Hey, mate” Ron said, cheerful. Good sign.

“Hi, can you please lower your voice?” He pointed to Draco, who hugged him closer in his sleep. “Fuck,” he whispered, not able to hide his huge smile. He reached out for a blanket and threw it over his shoulders.

“You are so fucked,” Ron said with a smirk. Bastard, he had been supportive of him and Hermione since the beginning, the least he could do was keep his comments to himself. Although Harry did break up with his little sister, that must have meant something.

“Shut up, you are here to talk about your relationship. How did it go?”

“All good, Hermione says we can wait, that she just wanted to bring up the idea but she is okay with waiting a bit more if I’m not sure right now.”

“That’s great. How are you feeling?”

“Very fucking relieved if I have to be honest. I want this kid and I want it with her, just not right now. I need to figure out something for my job first of all, I don’t want to be gone for weeks at a time and leave her alone, pregnant or with an infant, I just need time to think things through.”

“That’s really great, I’m glad you two worked it out.”

“Thanks, me too. I was worried for nothing.”

“Told you. So, you still up for that dinner? Because I was thinking, what if you two come over to my house? I think it would make Draco feel less uncomfortable?”

“Sure, whenever you want, just send us a letter.”

Draco started stirring next to him, completely stealing all his attention.

“Hey, there” Harry said, leaning down to kiss his forehead. “Ron’s here, we were talking about having dinner together.”

Draco tensed a little at that, immediately sitting up straighter and trying to look more awake. “Hello, Weasley,” he said, in his usual posh voice that became more intense whenever he was trying to be polite and was really uncomfortable.

“Malfoy,” he said with a quick nod of his head. “Hermione and I would love to have dinner with you two. Do you want us to bring anything?”

“Wine, maybe?” Draco said after Harry looked at him expectantly. “A good red goes with everything.”

Harry barely held back his laughter at that. He couldn’t believe he had gone from hating Draco Malfoy the posh boy to finding him extremely adorable when he talked about wine.

“Harry, pull it together, man,” Ron told him, smiling happily at him. “He’s talking about wine.”

Draco just looked at him with a weird expression, which he managed to wipe away with a quick kiss. “I’m sorry, I’m just really happy about this dinner.”

“The saviour is a sap, who would have thought,” Draco teased him, but at the same time he grabbed his hand and intertwined their fingers together.

“Everyone,” Ron answered, even though it wasn’t a question. “Just wait for your Christmas present, he goes over the top with those.”

“I do not. I just like to show some love to the ones who are important to me.”

“Which means you will be covered in presents,” he told Draco, and the fact that Ron was letting in him in their jokes and being so nice made Harry feel warm all over. This was his family, the people who had chosen him, and he couldn’t be happier about it.

“Oh Merlin, I shouldn’t have let you plan our date.”

“No, you shouldn’t have. I almost got a portkey to Rome.”

“Fucking hell,” Draco and Ron said at the same time. Well, that was progress, wasn’t it?

“Harry, from now on I’m in charge of our dates and special events.”

“Then I’ll organise the spontaneous dates.”

“You do realise that the whole meaning of something spontaneous is to do it out of the blue, right?”

“Ssh, let me have it.”

“What have I gotten myself into?” he asked no one in particular, sounding way more dramatic than would have been necessary.

“I’ll let you two to it, then,” Ron interrupted them, reminding them that he was still listening. “Good night, guys, let me know for dinner and if you need anything for the case.”

“Thanks, Ron, say hi to Hermione for me.”

“Yeah, thanks, good night,” Draco said, slightly less embarrassed than before.

Ron's face disappeared from the fire, leaving then alone again.

“I didn't know if you wanted to be woken up or not.”

“It's fine, I just feel very vulnerable when I’m sleeping is all.”

“But you were okay with me being in the room?”

“Of course, who better then you to save me?” he joked, trying to lighten up the mood.

“Next time I’ll wake you up,” he promised, not falling for Draco’s attempt at changing the subject. “Anything else I should know about you? I want to help you, not out of pity or because I have a hero complex, I just really care about you, and I want you to feel safe, around me and even when I’m not there.”

“I feel safe with you, probably more than I ever have in my whole life. Which is quite pathetic now that I think about it, but oh well.”

“I’m glad you feel that way, though. If we want this to work, we have to trust each other.”

“I do, I really trust you.”

“Good, I trust you, too.” He leaned forward to kiss him, smiling against his lips when he felt Draco’s hand sneaking behind his neck to keep him there and deepening the kiss.

“Can I sleep here tonight?” he asked, and if it wasn’t that he had been raised to always be confident and posed, Harry was sure he would have sounded extremely scared and shy.

“Of course you can. The sheets were changed yesterday, it's all clean and fresh.”

“I don't care, I just-I need to be with you.”

“Is something wrong?”

“I’ve been having lots of nightmares, I’ve not been able to sleep for a while now.”

“Oh, Draco. Have you taken any potion?”

“They don't work anymore, I’ve taken too many.” He smiled sadly at that, ashamed of what he had just revealed. “I’ve taken so many that my body got used to them. I tried everything, stronger doses, I combined a couple together, but nothing ever happens anymore.”

“I didn’t even know it was possible," he said, taken aback. “Come, let’s get you settled.” He got up and went to his bed, which had been made that morning by some house elves. “Do you want to borrow a pyjamas?”

“If it's not a problem.”

“Of course not. I’m afraid it's not silk, but it's soft and very warm.” He started looking for his favourite pyjamas, the one Molly had given him a couple years before, all red with snitches flying around.

“Thank you, Harry.”

“It’s really not a problem. There it is.” He found the pyjamas and he turned around to give it to Draco. “You have nothing to be embarrassed about, you know that, right?”

“I just hate feeling so weak and vulnerable.”

“You are neither of those things. You are strong and amazing, and I really wish you could see yourself as I see you.”

“How do you see me?” he asked, almost in a whisper.

He reached out and grabbed his hand, feeling the need to keep him close. “I see you as a brilliant wizard, very smart and cultured. I see you as an amazing teacher, who’s patient and kind and who listens to his students. But I also see you as someone I could really fall for. You are the better version of yourself, you didn’t like your past so you changed it, you took everything that was wrong and made it better, and I'm so proud of you for that.” He reached out and caressed his cheek, wiping away a single tear. “You deserve peace and happiness, and I wish I will be able to give you just what you need.”

“I don’t understand why you like me so much.”

“I literally just told you. I believe the things I said.”

“I get that, but why? You could have anyone you wanted, why me? I treated you horribly and-"

“Let me stop you there. You don’t get to decide who you fall for, I just like you a lot. I feel connected to you in a way I’ve never felt before, and I guess that just made me see what an incredible person you are.”

“I don't know if I’ll ever accept this. Part of me still thinks I don’t deserve anything,” he admitted, confirming Harry’s worries bout Draco not feeling worthy of love.

“I will remind you every day of how amazing you are until you start believing me. How does that sound?”

“Sappy?”

“That’s me, your sappy boyfriend.”

“Boyfriend?” His eyes legit got bigger at that.

“I mean, uh, date? For now? Like momentarily, until we make things official. If you want to, of course.”

“Wow, you really suck at this,” he said, finally smiling again. “I'd like to make things official after a couple of dates, yes.”

“Are you going to make me beg?”

“Always.” He winked, then he grabbed his pyjamas and left for the bathroom.

Harry changed quickly as well, getting into his grey pyjamas with shooting starts. You could tell he had not been laid in a while.

“And here I was, thinking about being sexy for you and make you drool a little.” Draco left the bathroom looking down at himself. “Remind me to buy you new pyjamas, will you? Nice black silk, cute robes.”

“Do I not look sexy?” He opened his arms and spun on himself.

“You ass looks lovely in those pants, but the stars are putting me off a little bit.”

“Rude, I like it.”

“You can start wearing them again after our one-year anniversary, when the flame is gone and we are just settling down.”

“I really don’t think I’ll have to beg that much.” He smirked at him, relieved to know they were on the same page.

“Don’t let this get to your head, Potter.”

“Too late.” He walked to the door and just closed the door behind himself to get ready for bed. He could hear Draco moving in the room, and for some reason it felt so incredibly normal and right. He just loved knowing that he had someone to cuddle during the night, and even better he liked the fact that that someone was Draco, looking adorable in his clothes. It was a little short on him, but at the same time slightly saggy because Harry had more muscles.

He finally left the bathroom and found Draco sitting under the blanket, with his back against the headboard.

Harry just smiled at him and reached him on the bad. “It shouldn’t be sexy, but I find it kinda hot to see you in my clothes.”

“Idiot.” He got closer and rested his head on his shoulder, while his hand went to his stomach. “I could get used to this. Being in bed with you, cuddling. It's gonna be hard when you leave.”

“I’m gonna fire-call you every night before bed. And we can meet up on the weekend if I’m not on a mission.” He started caressing his head, loving the feeling of his long hair under his fingers. “And in the summer we can just leave for a couple of weeks and go around, visit new places, or even just stay at home all day and cuddle.”

“You are really optimistic about us.”

“I know. Kinda scary if I have to be honest.”

“I sense a but.”

“But. It's what I want. I want to settle down, to have something stable. I wouldn’t start this if I wasn't one hundred percent sure that it can last.”

“I’m torn between thinking this can really be something but also trying not to get my hopes up in case you decide you can do better.”

“Well, get all your hopes up ‘cause that’s not gonna happen,” he said, hoping Draco could hear just how honest he was being, how much he really wanted it.

“I really want this to work." He cuddled closer to him, and Harry felt his heart missing a couple of beats.

“We will make this work,” he promised, resting his lips against his head and just breathing in the perfume of apples.

“Okay, I believe you.”

They stayed like that for a while, until Harry realised Draco was drifting off so he made them lie down and just hugged him from behind.

“Good night, love” he whispered in his hair.

“Good night, sap.”


	4. Chapter 4

The day of the date arrived way too quickly, and Harry was panicking.

What if Draco didn’t like the food? Or what if he hated the palace? Was he going to like just walking around London? And what if-

“Harry.” Draco brought him back from his panic. “Are you okay?” He rested his hand on the small of his back and smiled at him.

“I’m nervous.”

“About? We've been spending so much time together I’m not even sure it counts as a date,” he said, taking hold of his arm to button his shirt up at the wrist.

“I’m worried you won't enjoy it,” he said, not able to take his eyes away from Draco buttoning up his cuffs for him. That was so domestic and exactly what he wanted.

“I really don't care about what we are doing, I just want to be alone with you and be able to hold your hand in public. Besides, the fact that you are taking me to a place with a dressing code is already promising. And French food is always appreciated.”

“If you say so.” He finally lifted his head to look him in the eyes. “You look amazing, have I told you already?”

“Just one or seven times,” he said, not able to hide his smile. “You also look amazing.” He leaned down slightly to kiss him quickly. “Shall we go?”

“Yes, who’s going to wear the cloak?” They had realised that leaving the castle together, both wearing a suit, might have looked a bit suspicious.

“I'll wear it, since we are leaving your room.”

“Alright.” He recovered the cloak from the closet and put it on Draco, making sure all of him was covered. “Ok, we can go now.”

They left the room quickly, trying to avoid the busiest corridors, but they still met a couple of students, who were not so subtly checking Harry out.

“I swear, they are all perverts in this school,” Draco murmured as they were almost out the door.

“Shut up, don't make me laugh,” he whispered back, trying to hide his smile.

They managed to go outside quickly, but Draco took of the cloak only once they reached the gates. He gave it back to Harry, who shrunk it and put it in his pocket.

“Sir.” Harry offered Draco his arm, and he immediately put his hand on the crease of his elbow. “Ready?”

“Yes.” He looked happy, something he had seen so rarely in those weeks, and Harry was getting more and more excited as the time went by. The fact that he was the reason of that made him feel special, it gave him a weird rush.

He apparated them in a street close to the restaurant but not as trafficked, and they immediately started walking, hand in hand, for the first time without worrying of who could see them.

“I can't believe it's really happening,” Draco said, and his smile was so big Harry was mentally comparing him to the brightest things he had seen in his life.

“I know, it still feels surreal.” He brought their hands to his lips and kissed Draco's. “You’ve been waiting long enough for this moment.”

“I have. It was worth it, though.”

“Happy to hear that.”

It was weird how right it all felt. Taking Draco on a date, walking hand in hand, talking about stupid things and just spending time together. And yet it was. Everything felt right. For the first time in his life, he wasn’t worried about being killed, about getting detention, about his boss shouting at him, he had Draco to look forward to at the end of a long day. The thought scared the shit out of him, and yet he was ready for their relationship.

“There we are.” He stopped in front of the restaurant, a large building with exposed bricks, the door was black with glass in the middle from which you could see the maître waiting inside, at the top there was the name _Le Gavroche_ , and all around it a white frame.

“It looks fancy.” He looked excited, like it was a place he actually wanted to be in, so Harry counted that as a small win. He knew Draco wasn’t the same boy he had been in school, but he was still posh and spoilt and so picky, he really did not want to mess it up. “Good choice.”

“Remind me to thank Hermione.”

“She picked the place?”

“No, she gave me a couple of names. We will try them all out, don’t worry,” he added, noticing how he had perked up at the mention of several fancy restaurants.

“I feel very wooed right now.”

“That was my plan, dear.” Yeah so he was failing miserably at the whole pet names thing, but Draco had not complained once.

They approached the door and someone immediately opened it for them. They thanked them man, Harry a bit lost and awkward and Draco clearly in his element.

“Good evening,” the maître welcomed them, smiling politely. “Do you have a reservation?”

“Yes, Potter for two.”

He quickly scanned the paper in front of him and nodded silently. “Very well, Antoine will bring you to your table.”

Someone took their coats, leaving Harry very confused and frankly feeling out of place, then Antoine, their waiter for the night, appeared behind them, and brought them to their table. The whole room was very red, from the floor to the chairs, everything except the walls which were green, and the thought of Draco surrounded by his colour almost made him laugh. All the tables were covered by a white cloth, and most of them already had people sitting around and eating their very expensive meals.

“Here are your menus, if you have any question don’t hesitate to ask.” He bowed slightly and left them alone to decide.

“Oh Merlin, I don’t even know where to start.” Had he not been in a fancy place, he would have dramatically rested his head on the table.

“Why don't you relax and I order for you? You eat almost everything, right?” Draco offered, reaching out to rest his hand over Harry's. 

“Don't try and order snails.”

“I won't, promise.” He laughed when Harry lifted both of his eyebrows, clearly not convinced. “This is our first date after all, I do want to impress you and possibly make you stick around for a while.”

“Okay, then. Thank you.”

“Of course, dear.” Of fucking course, the only pet name Draco used was ‘dear’, so bloody posh once again, Harry was so endeared it almost made him furious with himself.

“Are you ready to order?” Antoine asked as soon as Draco put down the menu.

“Yes, we will start with _mousseline de Homard au Champagne et caviar et saumon mariné au citron aigre-doux gelée à la Vodka_ as _hors-d'oeuvre,_ then _tarte tatin de légumes, et filet de Maigre._ As dessert two _omelette Rothschild_. Could you please pick the wines for us?”

“Of course, sir.” He picked up their menus as soon as he finished writing down everything Draco had said, and then he left again.

“Why are you looking at me like this?” Draco smiled at him, slightly embarrassed.

“You sound really hot when you speak French,” he said, before his brain could catch up and stop him.

“Do I?” Draco was smirking, which meant nothing good was going to happen. “I can dirty talk in French if you want.”

“Stop it.” He could feel his blush spreading down to his neck.

“Or I could just say sweet nothings in your ear, bet you’d like that even more. Just me talking very close to your face.” He reached out again, and he started caressing the back of his hand with his index finger.

“What did you say about wanting to keep me around?” He stopped his hand and held it in his, trying his best to ignore the weird position.

“I bet I could make you stay forever if I spoke to you in French.”

“Not here,” he pleaded. That was pure torture. They had only kissed so far, which he was perfectly happy with, but he couldn’t deny how attracted he was to him, or the fact that he had not had sex in way too long and most of the times their make out sessions ended with him wanking in his shower and thinking about Draco's long fingers.

“What do I get if I stop?” It was so unfair the fact that he could look innocent even when he was being such a pain in the ass. And not only innocent, he looked so adorable, so happy that he could get a rise out of him without being mean.

“You sneaky little shit," he muttered. “You get a piggy back ride from the gate to the front door.”

“And can I speak French in your ear while you carry me?”

“Never said I was going to carry you, I was thinking about asking Hagrid.” Maybe he deserved the kick he received under the table, but it was still worth it for Draco's offended face. “Okay, you can do that while I carry you back to the castle,” he conceded, while he discretely rubbed his leg. “That hurt by the way.”

“Ops.” He just smiled innocently at him and brought his feet closer to his to touch him. “I was thinking, since we are having dinner with your friends, do you want to meet mine?”

He tried not to look too to upset at the idea, but he wasn’t sure he did such a great job at it. “I’d like that.”

“Okay, try to sound a bit less dead inside.”

“I’m sorry, I just- Parkinson, Goyle, Bluestrode, _Zabini_ , not exactly people I think would enjoy my company.”

“Why did you say Blaise's name like that?”

“Well you slept with him, you two have a history, I really doubt he’s gonna be my favourite.” He was getting nervous, he could feel his hands shaking a bit and he was now gesticulating wildly with his free hand. He really didn’t want to talk about their ex partners on their first date.

“Are you jealous?” He couldn’t even contain his smile at that. He looked like a kid at Christmas, or even better, the whole fucking tree lit up.

He just shrugged, only moderately embarrassed. “I guess I am.”

“Well there was never love between us, not like there was between you and Ginevra Weasley. It was just to experiment a little, try new things and figure stuff out. Besides, I only wanted you.”

“I hadn’t thought about Ginny, I’m sorry. Did that make you uncomfortable?”

“Well I wasn't there as your boyfriend, I was very scared by the whole family not just your ex.”

“Yeah, okay, but did it upset you?”

“I can’t say seeing you two hugging made me feel better about the whole situation.” He smiled sadly at that, almost a bit self-deprecating. “But I know you two will always be friends.”

“There is nothing between us, you know that, right?”

“Yeah, I know. I’m not worried, it’s as you said, you two have a history. I guess I’m jealous of what you had with her, because it could have been me all along.”

“I felt the same when you told me about Blaise. You know, I was almost sorted in Slytherin, I had to beg the hat not to put me there. I wonder what things would have been like for us.”

“Really? I didn’t know that."

“No one does. Well, except some of your students.”

“Now I can explain their smug smiles after you talked with them.”

“But the point is, we both have history with other people and we can't change that, but I trust you, and if you say that I don't need to worry, then I won’t."

“You really don’t. I think Blaise has a girlfriend now, if that helps."

“And Ginny is seeing someone else, too. I love her, and I loved what we had, but it ended for a reason, and now I just want to see where this will take us."

“Sounds good.” He tried to smile, but he still seemed a bit unsure.

“What is it?”

“I don’t know how it’s going to work between us. I guess I’m scared of what people might think, what they might see when they see me next to you. Ginny was perfect for you.”

“Image wise, maybe, but not for my personal needs. I wanted to settle down, to feel at peace for once in my life and get the family I always wanted and needed, Ginny wanted to explore, try new things, live at the fullest.”

“Don’t you want to live life at the fullest?”

“I just want to be left alone for at least another ten years. I lived and risked my life enough times, now I want to enjoy the small things. I want to enjoy my friends, my family, and my relationship. I have time to live, I just want to find the right person to do it with.”

“And that would be me?” He looked so shocked it was almost funny. Serious and stoic Malfoy openly staring at him with his mouth slightly open.

“It could be if you are up for it. Listen, I think I made it pretty clear, I want stability, I’m in this for the long run, so either you run away now, or I’ll try and keep you for as long as possible.”

“I’d really like to stay.” He recovered pretty quickly and straightened his back, trying to look calm and collected when he was probably freaking out on the inside.

“Looks like we are on the same page then.”

“We are.” He smiled at him, big and open.

“You’re even prettier when you smile, did you know that?”

“I should have known you were the cheesy type.” He let go of his hand, but even if he was trying to look annoyed, there was no way to hide his cute blush or the way his eyes were crinkling.

“That’s on you, it was pretty obvious.”

Their little back and forth got interrupted by their waiter bringing them their appetisers.

“Lobster mousse with Aquitaine caviar and champagne butter sauce” he announced, while another waiter started filling their glasses with white wine.

“That’s mine,” Draco said, moving away to give him space. “Thank you.”

“And marinated Var salmon with lemon and vodka jelly.” He set the plate in front of Harry. “I hope it’s of your likings.”

“Thanks.”

They waited for both of them to leave, then Draco immediately dove in into his food, while Harry just poked it with his fork as if it was going to attack him.

“That’s not how you eat it,” he teased, looking at him as if he had gone mad.

“It looks weird.”

“Just try it, you big baby.”

“Okay, okay,” He took his first bite, and apparently he moaned more loudly than he had intended to because the old couple next to them turned to look at him.

Draco just laughed at him, not even one bit embarrassed, and he kept eating, looking very pleased with his choice.

“I’m taking you out more often,” he said after he had swallowed his first bite. He had manners, thank you very much.

“Oh, so now you like my fancy food, uh?”

“It just tastes amazing, how do they even do this?”

“I'm glad you like it. I was a bit scared when you said you wanted to take me to a fancy restaurant, because I know that sometimes they have questionable choices, and you really aren’t a posh person.”

“Obviously I’m not, I eat canned tuna four times a week.”

“Didn’t you say you can cook?”

“I can, I just don’t see the point if it’s just me. I mean, I’d love to come home and cook for someone, but if it it’s just for me then I don’t care.”

“I really wish I could leave the castle more often.” His expression softened, and Harry reached over to touch his arm lightly.

“Me too, but we will be fine. We’ll figure something out.”

“Did you know that McGonagall used to have a cottage near the school where she lived with her husband?”

“Why would I know that and why do _you_ know that?” Well that was weird. He had never stopped to think about teachers’ lives outside Hogwarts. He had heard some of them mention a spouse, but that was the extent of it.

“We chat a lot. She's been really great these couple of years, she encouraged me on multiple occasions to find a partner.”

“She what? Too many information all in one go,” he said dramatically.

“Oh, c’mon, Potter, keep up.” He smiled at him, always so smug but also with something that looked a lot like fond in his eyes. He had noticed it lately, the way Draco looked at him, like he really, really liked him. He was pretty sure his face was even worse considering he had a harder time hiding his feelings.

“Okay, she was married and she wants you to settle down, what else?” He asked, taking another bite of his meal. He was eating so much slower than he usually would, but he was scared of looking like an idiot and he actually wanted to enjoy it. Especially considering how much it was going to cost him.

“We talked about you quite a lot, she really cares about you, you know?”

“I mean it's hard to tell with her, but she always had my back. And I’ve always admired her a lot, I’m glad she doesn’t see me as a kid anymore.”

“She really does not. She's so proud of what you’ve done these past years, sometimes she just shows me articles about you like a proud grandmother. Although I think part of that is because she knew about my crush.”

“Oh, she knows. She was so smug when she told me about your letters.” Well, as smug as she could be, really. She did look happier than usual, though.

“That woman is something else.”

“She really is.”

“What happened to us? From hating each other to going on dates and talking about our teachers. Oh God we are old." Dramatic as always. He never thought he would even like Draco as a friend, but there he was, smiling at him and finding all his little quirks extremely adorable.

“We are twenty-four,” he pointed out. “And you don’t look a day older than twenty-one, my dear.”

“Idiot.” He barely contained his laughter, then he opted to finish his appetiser.

“This is when you are supposed to say something nice to me.” He batted his eyelashes at him, patiently waiting for an insult. He knew his boy. Well that was new, his boy.

“You look moderately decent with a suit, less like you just raided an old man’s closet and more like the rich and famous Auror you actually are.” There it was, the gentle drag with a very hidden compliment.

“Why thank you, love.”

“You are ridiculous.”

“Guess who’s on a date with me.” He winked at him and started eating again before it got cold.

“You’re still so full of shit.”

“Is it appropriate to make a dirty joke?” he wondered, seriously concerned.

“If I know where you are going with this, and I’m pretty sure I do, I beg you not to say anything.” His annoyed expression lasted only a couple of seconds, and he was forced to hide his grin by eating again.

“Too bad.”

“A literal child, I’m dating a child,” he muttered, while one of his feet moved to caress his ankle.

“Oh, so we are dating, uh?”

“I take it back.”

“Too late.”

They kept bickering throughout their whole meal, barely noticing the waiters bringing them food – a tarte tatin with roasted vegetables for Draco and stone bass and pastilla for Harry as their main course, and an apricot and Cointreau for both of them as dessert – and wine.

Suddenly it was nine thirty, and they were still in their little bubble, too wrapped up in each other to care about anything else, so they decided to take a walk. The city was still alive, and it was so weird for both of them, considering all the time they spent in the castle making sure kids were in bed early, but it gave them both a rush. They were no one there, just to people on a date, two adults with no responsibilities for the night. They could be whoever they wanted to be, and no one even cared or noticed them. It was liberating.

“We need to do this more often,” Draco said, clearly thinking the same thing.

“We do. I wanted to take you on the London Eye but it’s already closed at this time.”

“Well, good thing we are wizards.”

“What do you have in mind?” he asked, smiling like an idiot.

“We could apparate in there? Just sit there quietly, with no one rushing us.”

“Let’s do it.” He started walking faster, looking for a dark place where they could apparate from without being seen.

They finally found an alley that was secluded enough to give them a minute of peace, and still holding hands they apparated inside one of the capsule of the London eye. Thank Merlin he had actually bothered stopping by the other day, and bless Hermione and her detailed route of how to get from a restaurant to another.

“Yep, still fucking hate this.” Harry leaned against the glass to regain his balance.

“Are you okay?” Draco put his hand on the small of his back and stepped closer.

“It always makes me a bit sick. Not a good idea after dinner.”

“Oh, you poor thing.” He only sounded relatively mocking, betrayed only by his concerned expression.

“I’m fine, just give me a minute or two.” He sat down, and Draco was immediately next to him, with an arm around his shoulders.

“Are you fine with apparating to Hogwarts? Or I could go there and open my Floo network for you, I’m sure you can find a place in Diagon Alley that will let you use theirs.”

“It’s okay, really, it’s just because we’ve just finished dinner.” He cuddled closer to him and closed his eyes. He didn’t even care about the view on the Thames and the whole city below them, he just wanted to enjoy Draco’s company.

“Okay, whatever you want.” He kissed the top of his head and rested his own against him. “It’s beautiful up here,” he said in a whisper after a couple of minutes spent in silence.

Harry finally opened his eyes, and he had to agree. The view was simply stunning, with all the trees already covered with lights for Christmas.

“This was a perfect date, thank you.”

“Only the best for my posh... what are you?”

“I’d say co-worker,” he said after a couple of seconds spent pretending to be thinking about it.

He deserved Harry’s elbow in his ribs, he really did. “C’mon, what are we?” he asked, hoping Draco would say what he was too scared to ask for. Draco had said he wanted to make it official after a couple of dates, but as he had pointed out, they were already spending so my much time together 

“I want to say boyfriends, but I’m not sure if it’s too early.”

“We’ve known each other long enough, and we’ve been snogging for a while, I think we can call each other boyfriend.”

“Boyfriend it is then.”

“Cool, yeah.” He snuggled even closer, even though it was almost impossible considering he was already half in his lap. “My first boyfriend.” Thankfully, or not, Draco was the only one who heard him giggle over that. Damn those French people and their delicious wine.

“Mine too,” Draco reminded him. “My first ever proper relationship, really.”

“Why do you sound scared?” He moved a little to be able to look him in the eyes.

“I don’t want to fuck this up. I just- I know myself, I’m scared that at one point it will become too much or I’ll feel like I’m not worthy of your time and I’ll start pulling away from you.”

“Thanks for telling me.” He smiled at him and quickly leaned forward to kiss him. “I won’t let you run away, don’t worry about that.”

“But-“

“No, I won’t. Now stop worrying your cute little head and enjoy our last moment as a free couple.” He leaned against him once again, smiling when he felt Draco’s hand caress his hip under his coat.

“Do you want to come out at some point?” he asked, sounding worried, probably about Harry’s answer.

“I do. Do you?”

“I think so, yeah. I enjoyed going around with you so much, I just want to be able to do it whenever and wherever we want.”

“Good, I want that too.” He reached for his free hand and brought it to his lips. He wasn’t sure why – yes, he was, but he still had a dignity – but he loved his hands.

They stayed in silence for another ten minutes, occasionally kissing but overall just enjoying the view and each other’s presence, then they heard the clock signalling ten and they decided to head back to the castle.

Harry apparated them once again, because being dragged by someone else was so much worse and feeling Draco's hand in his made him feel more grounded, and they appeared right in front of the gate.

“Just because it's you and you were nice tonight, I won't make you carry me to the castle. You’re welcome.”

“Such a sweet soul you are,” he said, touching his chest dramatically.

“I know, don’t get used to it.” He started walking, dragging him along. The gate opened for them, and by a silent rule they slowed down, dragging the moment on just a little bit longer.

“Do you want to sleep in my room?” he asked, only then realising that it might have sounded a bit odd. “Like really sleep, I’m not trying to sleep with you.”

“Why thank you, Harry, I feel so flattered.”

“You know what I mean," he said, feeling his cheeks heat up even with the cold air hitting his face.

“I do. And I’d like to sleep in your bed, with clothes on and no inappropriate touching.” He was openly mocking him, but Harry really couldn’t blame him. All of a sudden, he was nervous at the idea of sleeping with Draco. What if sex was terrible between them? How was it even going to work? He knew Draco was bossy, but was he bossy in bed? Because he wasn’t sure that was going to work for him. But then again sex wasn’t everything, was it?

“I'm spiralling,” he told Draco. Their therapist – yes it was the same after all, they had talked about her – would have been so proud to know he was opening up and sharing his discomfort instead of hiding it.

“About?” Draco stopped and leaned against a tree. He tugged him closer and put his hand on his hips, under his open coat.

“Sex. Are we going to have sex?”

“We are dating, I think it will happen sooner or later. Unless you don’t want to?”

“I do, I’m just scared it's going to suck.”

“Harry please, all these compliments in one night are going to my head.” He didn’t sound annoyed, but he did look a bit uncertain, clearly all of Harry's doubts were starting to get to him.

“That’s not what I mean. I’m just worried that our personalities won't match in bed.” He got even closer to him to the kiss tip of his nose and he started caressing his neck with his knuckles. “I’m sorry I’m being so paranoid, I don’t know why I'm suddenly scared of having sex with someone.”

“It's okay, I’m glad you told me. We will work on this, ok? We just need to figure out what we like and go from there. I’m sure we have more in common than you think."

“Like? Have you thought about this often?” And he was back again to being a little shit and flirting. Good, right headspace Harry. He let his free hand go from Draco's neck to his hip. 

“I have. Multiple times.”

“Care to share?”

“No, I think I’ll let you wonder about my fantasies for a bit longer.” He started walking again, with no warning to Harry, who almost tripped on his own feet.

“Are you as bossy in bed as you are in your day to day life?” he couldn't help but ask.

“I can be whatever you want me to be. But no, I usually like it better when the other person is in control. Is this a problem?”

“No, I actually don’t like bossy people in bed.”

“See, we have something in common. If you want to tie me up then I'll never leave you and I’ll do whatever you want me to.”

At that Harry had to stop, because he couldn't process that information while walking. “You like being tied up?”

“I do. Quite a lot actually.” He smirked at that, and Harry really hated the discomfort he felt deep in his stomach at the idea of Draco recalling his past adventures.

“I’ve never tied anyone up, " he admitted.

“There are spells for that if you ever wanna try.” He put his hand on his cheek, forcing him to lift his head from their shoes. “Whatever you want, we can try it, and if you are not comfortable with something you can tell me.”

“I’m willing to try your things, it's only fair.”

“Okay, little secret for you since we are dating now.” He got closer, and his breath against Harry's neck made him shiver. “I get off on pleasing people. Shocking, I know,” he whispered. And how his voice went that deep Harry really didn't know, but it was doing weird things to his body.

“So you really like giving up control?”

“Yeah. Never really went all in. I was too young with Blaise and the people who came after were just flings and I didn’t trust them. But you are my boyfriend now, and I trust you.”

“Fuck, why is this so hot.”

Draco just laughed at that and quickly kissed him, just because he could and he was happy. “Let's go inside.”

They started walking, again, and Harry kept thinking about what Draco had just told him. Having all that power on someone, in such a vulnerable moment. Just the idea was giving him a rush. And to know that Draco actually trusted him enough to let him do it. He really shouldn’t have worried.

They stopped holding hands as soon as the trees stopped covering them completely, but luckily for them they managed to reach Harry's room without seeing anyone.

“I, uh, I got you something.” He picked up a nicely wrapped up box and offered it to Draco.

“What for?” he asked, sounding way softer than usual.

“I just thought you'd appreciate it.” He shrugged, making it seem like it was no big deal, when in reality it had almost driven him crazy. How was he supposed to know that there were so many different pyjamas in the world? He just wanted silk, that’s all he knew, why bother him with patterns and colours and this and that. In the end he had spent way too much money, but he had found the perfect one. Dark green, with silver threads and incredibly smooth. “Open it.” He waited, not exactly patiently, for Draco to open it.

“Did you really?” His smile was so big and pretty that Harry just had to kiss him. “Thank you, I love it.” He quickly hugged him and then he took the pyjamas out of the box to touch it. “I have a confession to make, though.”

“Oh no, do you have it already? You can change it if you want. There was a very pretty purple one.”

“That’s not it. I just, I kinda liked sleeping in your clothes?”

“Oh, did you now?” He didn't even try to hide his grin, he knew it would have been impossible to contain it.

“Yes. They smell like you and they are very soft.”

“You can use this when you visit your parents, then. Here, I have one you haven’t seen yet. Do you like phoenixes?”

“Are you not pissed?”

“About?” he asked, not even turning around. Why did he have so many pyjamas? Sure, he loved a lazy Sunday at home, but he was an active guy, he had no need for twenty different pyjamas.

“You must have spent a lot on this. And dinner tonight.”

“I don’t care, I want to spoil you.” He turned around with his blue pyjamas with phoenixes on it. “There you go. Super sexy if I do say so myself.”

“Thank you. Not for this.” He held up the pyjamas, relatively disgusted but fond at the same time.

“Of course, love. Now go change, it's time for some cuddles.”

“How did we skip the honeymoon phase and went straight to married for fifty years?”

“It's the pyjamas, it sets the mood. The rattier and older, the more I want to cuddle with you.”

“Good to know. Next time I’ll come out naked.” He winked and left him there with his mouth half open and his mind imagining Draco's naked body. The fucker. 

  


***

  


Harry was working on an old case, just some papers to finish and hand in at the end of the week, when Draco came running inside his bedroom.

“We have them all," he said, out of breath, holding his side with one hand and waving the Map with the other.

“Really?” He took the Map from his hand while Draco dramatically fell on his bed, and he quickly read the names in the paper attached to it. There were so many names, but thankfully the list of creatures Hagrid didn't know was made up by less than twenty names. “I’ll send this to Ron and see what he can tell me.” He quickly wrote a letter for Ron, explaining briefly what he needed, and then he put it in an envelope with the list. “This is great, good job.” He turned around and found Draco still on his bed, his eyes closed and his chest heaving way too fast. “Tomorrow morning at seven I want you awake, you are working out with me.”

“Over my dead body, Potter.”

“Shouldn't take too long then.”

“Dick.” He threw him a pillow, but missed entirely.

“Do you want to come with me to the owlery?”

“Not really, but I feel like we haven’t spent enough time together this week.” He sat up and reached out to touch him and bring him closer. “Hi.” He smiled at him and rested his head against his stomach. Adorable.

“What do you say we send the letter and then come here to cuddle? We can start planning tomorrow’s dinner.” Dinner with Ron and Hermione was about to happen, and even if he hadn’t said anything explicitly, Harry knew that Draco was nervous.

“Sounds good.”

They quickly went to the owlery, only bumping into a couple of people, and Harry immediately started petting all the owls who let him close enough.

“Can I ask you something?”

“I don’t feel ready yet," he said, already knowing where Draco was going.

“Will you ever be? You love these animals, maybe you just need to get another one.”

“I still feel like I’d be betraying her. I know it's stupid.”

“Hey, no, it's not.” He wrapped his arms around him after making sure they were alone. “I get it. I just want to see you happy, and these animals make you happy. You can come here to visit mine whenever you want, okay? Maybe if you get used to a specific owl instead of taking turns with multiple ones, you’ll start feeling like you can get one that’s just yours.”

“Thank you."

“Here, let me introduce you two.” He took his hand and brought him to a beautiful eagle owl. Its eyes were a deep orange, and its feathers white, black and grey. It was simply beautiful, even if it looked like an old man with very thick eyebrows. “This is Max.”

“You called your owl Max?”

“I wanted to annoy my father,” he said, smiling like a kid who had just done something bad. “He’s not the friendliest of owls to be fair. It took him quite a bit to warm up to me, but it felt so good when he did. Like he had chosen me, you know?”

“Yeah, I know.” He just smiled at him. That was a side of Draco he didn't know, and frankly he didn’t need any more details to like him.

“Max, I want you to meet someone special.” He held his arm in front of the owl and he immediately moved over it, affectionately biting his arm. He got closer to Harry, so that the owl could see him properly. “This is Harry, and I like him, so please behave. Harry, let him see you hand.”

He opened his hand in front of the owl and let the animal just study him.

“Good boy,” Draco said, reaching from one of the bowls in the owlery to give him some food. “Harry's nice, we like Harry,” he almost whispered, just for Max. “Dear, try to touch it.”

It still sent a shiver down his spine whenever Draco called him ‘dear’, it made him feel special, loved. He was always so soft and nice when he was talking to him. He obeyed immediately and slowly moved his hand. When he saw that the owl was not opposed to it, he put his hand on his head and slowly petted it, while Draco kept feeding him. “Hello, Max.” The name felt funny in his mouth, but somehow it fit. It was just so ridiculously perfect.

“See, he already likes you. Feel free to come and visit him whenever you want. Just make sure you bring him some food, he likes to be wooed.”

“Like father, like son.”

“Exactly.” Draco was nothing if not self-aware. Well okay, most of the times at least. “Max, how would you like to fly a bit? I’m sorry you have to see the Ministry, but at least you can get out of here.” He nodded to Harry, and very carefully he attached the letter to the owl. “See you soon, Max.”

Just like that the owl took off, screeching happily and showing off, then he was out and in the sky.

“How was it?” Draco asked gently, putting a hand on his arm.

“Alright. I just have to get used to the idea that no one will ever replace Hedwig, you know? I might never have that same connection, but I like the company of a pet, I like taking care of it.”

“What about a cat? I can see us-" he stopped, realising too late that he was giving too much away.

“Yes?” He felt like he did when he played quidditch. Adrenaline pumping through his whole body, his heart beating like crazy, his vision blurry at the edges and only focused on the snitch, but instead this time Draco was all he could see.

“I forgot where I was going with that," he lied, trying to keep busy with cleaning his hands and his coat, turning around so that Harry could not see him.

“Draco?” He put a hand on top of his shoulder and made him spin around to face him.

“I just meant, like, your cat obviously, not ours, but us cuddled on the sofa with a kitten maybe?”

“I'd like that.” He smiled at him, his heart still beating way too fast. “And I’d especially like it with you. No Max or Toby, though.”

“Sounds reasonable.” He was blushing, and Harry was dying on the inside. What the fuck was going on. They had made it official a week prior and they were talking about adopting a kitten. The scary part was that it was not scary at all. It felt natural, right, it all made so much sense in his head.

“We should go back inside, your nose is getting red.” He bopped his nose and immediately felt how cold it was. “Let’s go, I have some cuddling to do."

“And a dinner to plan.”

They left quickly, almost running because they wanted to reach Harry's room as soon as possible and just be able to kiss.

  


***

  


The following night was Draco's turn to be a nervous wreck. It wasn’t obvious to anyone else, but Harry could see and sense it. His legs weren’t bouncing up and down, his hands weren’t shaking, but his jaw was clenched and his eyes kept looking for Harry’s while they were cooking. Okay, Harry was cooking, Draco was sipping wine and pretending to cut vegetables. Useless, completely useless, but at least he was pretty to look at, much better than his old house elf. His energy also felt off. He couldn’t explain why, but he always felt a weird buzz under his skin when he was with Draco, and right now his skin felt very itchy.

“Love, are you sure about this?” he asked, tying to sound as nice as possible.

“Yes, let's just get this over with.”

“Your magic is going a bit crazy, I can feel it.”

“I'm sorry, you can feel my magic?” he asked, surprised.

“Uh, yes?” He looked up, confused. Was it weird? He knew Ron and Hermione and many other married couples he knew were very attuned to each other’s magic.

“That’s... odd. I mean, it usually happens to married couple because the bond links their magic, not to people who’ve been dating for a week.”

“Do you feel mine? Maybe it’s only because I used your wand.”

“I kinda do. Like, I feel when you are getting worked up.”

“Practically married then.” He got closer just to kiss his cheek. “In all seriousness, you don’t need to worry. Hermione is rather diplomatic, and I’ve already talked about you with Ron, he knows I really like you.”

“It’s just that you usually need to make a good first impression with your boyfriend’s friend, and I’ve already made so many bad ones.” His other nervous tic was running his hand through his hair, and only saying that sentence he had done it three times.

“Listen.” He forced him to sit on the counter and he made his way between his legs, leaving his hands on his thighs. “I can’t promise you they will like you, but they know how important you are to me, and they approve of our relationship. They won't mock you, or bring up things from the past. I know you will probably never go book shopping with Hermione or to a bar with Ron, but I have zero doubt you can all be friendly and mature about this. I love all three of you, and I will make sure you all enjoy this dinner. Understood?”

“Yes, I’m sorry.”

“Nothing to be sorry about, I just want to see you happy and comfortable.” He kissed his forehead and went back to cooking his risotto with mushrooms. “Now please be a dear and slice up my bell peppers. Cut them in half, remove the seeds and the white parts, then slice them.”

“Yes, chef,” he said, mocking.

“I like sir better."

If the noise of Draco's knife hitting the floor was of any indication, he had understood what he meant with that.

They went back to cooking in comfortable silence, the noises of the kitchen and of food cooking their only background. It was nice, really nice, and so new to Harry. When he was still with Ginny, they both preferred to be alone in the kitchen, because they got on each other’s nerves by pointing out things they would have done differently, but Draco had no idea what he was doing. He followed his instructions, and asked for help when needed, and that was it. He was also nice to have around, with his soft humming and gentle hands on his hips when he passed by him to get something. He felt truly at peace in that moment.

“Babe, can you pass me the bell peppers?” he asked, and now he was calling Draco ‘babe’ casually, just because he could and because it made him blush slightly. Turns out he wasn’t that against pet names.

Draco simply passed them over, and looked at him expectantly.

“They are perfect, thank you,” he said, smiling to himself when Draco relaxed. He was such a perfectionist.

He put the bell peppers on the heated pan and went back to check on his risotto. His roast was cooking in the oven, and his zucchini were almost ready as well.

“It smells amazing in here.” Draco came up behind him and wrapped him in his arms, resting his chin on his shoulder. “We need to do this more often.”

“You mean that you me to cook for you.”

“Yeah, but it sounds less romantic like this.”

Harry just laughed at that, endeared by his boy. He sank more into him, enjoying Draco’s warmth and strong grip around his waist.

“You are really pretty when you cook,” he said softly, nuzzling against his neck. “So concentrated and precise. It’s almost sexy.”

“Is it?” He turned his head slightly, waiting for Draco to get the hint and just kiss him already. Which he did, bless his smart little brain.

They were interrupted just as Harry was pushing Draco on the counter. “Harry? Can we come in?” Ron shouted from the front door. Damn past Harry for giving them a key.

“In the kitchen,” he shouted back, moving away from his boyfriend as to not be tempted to send his friends away and spend the night snogging him senseless. That was a really good idea, actually. No, he was mature and a good host.

Ron and Hermione entered the room quickly, smiling brightly as always. “Hello,” Hermione said. She quickly reached Harry to give him a hug, then turned to Draco to shake his hand politely. “Malfoy,” she said, still sounding friendly.

“Granger,” he replied. He was trying his best, he really was, but his shoulder had tensed up and he looked more serious than he had a couple of minutes before.

“Nice to see you again,” Ron said, sounding slightly less convincing, but still very polite.

“You too.” They awkwardly shook hands, and Harry had to really fight his huge grin at that. Seeing his boyfriend and his best friends in the same room was making him so happy and giddy. Even if they were never going to get along, it was so important to him that they were trying, for him.

“What did you cook? It smells amazing.” Hermione got closer to the stove to snoop a bit.

“Stay away from there, just by being close to it you could set the kitchen on fire,” Ron said, dramatically hugging her and moving her behind the table.

“Very funny, Ron,” she said, rolling her eyes. Hermione was brilliant, he would never tire of saying it, but she couldn’t cook to save her life. She tried, she really did, and she was alright at very basic things, but Ron was the cook in their house. Years spent helping Molly in the kitchen really paid off.

“Is she worse than me?” Draco asked, looking kind of hopeful and so cute Harry just wanted to wrap him up and hide him in his room.

“Well, I haven’t eaten anything cooked by you, bust based on my past experiences I’d say yes.”

“Guys, c’mon, I’m not that bad,” Hermione complained, but it was clear she didn’t really believe it either.

“Of course you are not, honey.” Ron kissed her forehead, still holding her in his arms, but over her head he shook his head just for Harry and Draco to see.

“Why don’t you go sit down?” Harry said, nodding toward the dining table Draco had set up. It looked really good, in his professional and not at all biased opinion. The table cloth was a really pretty pearl white with matching napkins, the plates a fine china with blue flowers on them, and he had even managed to find his good cutlery and crystal glasses. He had also found a pretty vase, and went out to buy flowers and wine to go with the risotto. All in all, they made a really good team.

“You can tell Harry didn’t set this up,” Hermione said, clearly impressed. “Last time we ate on plastic plates and had paper towels as napkins.”

“Harry,” Draco said, scandalised.

“Shut up.” He gave him a quick kiss just to wipe his smile off his face. “Can you pick up the plates, please?”

“Not fair to kiss me and ask for a favour,” he mumbled, but he was already doing it.

While he was staring at Draco, he locked eyes with Ron, who just smiled happily at him and pretended to puke the second after.

“There you go.” Draco settled the plates on the counter and held one up for Harry to fill with the risotto. It was all so domestic, Harry felt like screaming.

They quickly filled all the plates, and in no time everyone was eating and complimenting Harry on the food.

“Thank you, my little helper was really great.” He just had to reach down and put his hand on Draco’s legs, who immediately relaxed a tiny bit under his touch and very subtly moved closer to him.

“I did absolutely nothing,” Draco said, sharing a private smile with him.

“That’s not true. You cut the vegetables, set the table and went out to get wine. I wouldn’t have finished alone.”

“This is actually so disgusting,” Ron said, while Hermione was laughing and Draco just blushed.

“Let them be, we were also annoying,” Hermione intervened for them, smiling kindly at both of them.

“You were,” Harry confirmed, “pining and pining and then some more pining.”

“Oh, shut up, you stalked Malfoy for an entire year. I always wondered how long it was going to take you to realise you fancied him.”

“Okay I was not stalking him because I fancied him.”

“No, but you can’t say your obsession with him was just platonic.”

“Hey, I’m the host, and the cook, be nice to me.” He was pouting, so what.

“Well you were right to stalk me,” Draco said, clearly ashamed and uncomfortable.

“That’s not the point,” Ron said, sensing he had said to much. “He had a crush on you and he won’t admit it.”

“Okay, fine. I maybe had a tiny crush on him. He is hot, sue me.”

Draco just smiled at that, and leaned closer to kiss his cheek. “Thank you, you are not too bad either.”

From there they just started talking, Ron and Harry very excited about Quidditch and a new case at work, and Draco and Hermione bonding over their common passion for runes. Even though neither of them actually used them on the daily, they were both very fascinated by them.

It wasn’t until dessert – a panna cotta with wild berries – that Ron remembered to bring up Harry’s case.

“By the way, I have your lists of names.” He reached for Hermione’s bag and took out a piece of paper. “Most of them are very old centaurs, but there was something weird. This one,” he pointed to a name and read it, “Thorfinn Rowle.”

“He entered school the night-" he stopped, and Harry immediately put his hand on his. He remembered Draco that night. How scared and vulnerable he had looked. He wasn’t Draco Malfoy the death eater, he was just a frightened teen.

“The night Dumbledore was killed,” Harry finished for him. “He also followed us in London once.”

“He should be dead. I heard my parents talk about him,” Draco said, turning his hand so that their fingers could intertwine.

“He is supposed to be dead, yes,” Ron confirmed, “but the body was never found. All the archives say that he was killed in the battle, so clearly someone must have seen him, how can he appear on the Map?”

“Could it be his ghost?” Hermione asked. The Map showed ghosts after all, maybe something happened that had made him into one.

“That’s what I though,” Draco said. “That’s why I didn’t pay too much attention to his name.”

“I think I will have to just go and see for myself, then. Just so we can be sure,” Harry said.

“You can't just go in there,” Draco protested, holding his hand tighter.

“I have to. It's my job.”

“You will not go alone. Do it and I’ll fucking hex you into next year.” Harry really wanted to kiss him and just hold him close, to reassure him that it was going to be fine, that he was trained, but he refrained from doing so in front of his friends.

“I’ll go with Hagrid.”

“I’ll come," Draco said, sounding very resolute. Harry did not like it, not one bit. “Don’t look at me like that. If you don’t think it's dangerous enough to ask for help then I can come too.”

“I’ll come with you,” Ron said. “Just to be sure. Maybe I could get the new boys to come as well.”

“I don't want to make a show of it,” Harry said, frustrated. But he knew that it had already been settled. Besides, if Draco really wanted to come, there was no way he was going to risk his life.

“You are being careful and professional,” Hermione said, trying to be reasonable.

“Alright then. I want you all there at ten on Monday, so the kids are all in class and safe. I’ll let McGonagall know tomorrow morning.”

Draco visibly relaxed at that, and it made him feel sick, the knowledge that Draco was scared for him, and that he was going to be until the day he left his job.

The rest of the evening went well, but Draco was not able to relax after their conversation, and Harry just wanted his friends to leave so that he could hold his boyfriend and kiss him to make him forget everything.

Ron and Hermione were barely out of the door when Harry pushed Draco against the wall to hug him.

“What are you doing?” Draco asked, even though he was leaning into him and hugging him back fiercely.

“I don’t want you to worry for me.”

“That’s kind of inevitable with your job. I know you are the best, but you are impulsive and you always need to protect others. I can’t lose you, Harry, I just can’t.” He hid his face against his neck, and fisted Harry's shirt in his hands.

“You won’t, I promise you. I will be safe, for you. You are a pretty big incentive to stay alive and come home.”

“Okay.” He didn't sound convinced at all, but that would have to do for the time being. “Can we go to bed?”

“Of course, love.” He moved away from him and took his hand. It wasn’t very practical to walk up the stairs like that, but oh well. He needed to touch Draco, to remind him that he was there, and he was fine, and that they were going to be okay.

They changed in silence, for the first time in the same room, then took turns in the bathroom. It all just felt so natural, and it would have been lovely, had it not been for Draco's worried face.

“Babe?” He sat down next to him, on his side of the bed. Draco was already under the blanket, cuddled on himself. “Draco, I know It's hard, but you have to trust me.” He settled down next to him, hugging him until there was no space between them.

“I’m scared,” he whispered.

“About what, exactly?”

“Losing you. That’s the place where you died, and now someone who worked with _him_ is going around the forest.”

“We don’t know for sure, it could just be his ghost.” He kissed his neck, trying to distract both Draco and himself. And here he was, worried that Draco would not get along with his friends, when clearly, they had bigger problems. He had not thought about that, at all. The only thing he had been worried about was what they were going to do once they were not living in the same place anymore, it hadn’t even crossed his mind that Draco might have found his job very scary.

“I really want to come.”

“I know, that’s why I agreed to having more people with us.”

Draco just turned around and stared into his eyes for the longest moment. “Will you ever start doing something for yourself?”

“It's actually pretty selfish if you think about it. I just really need you and I want you to be safe.”

“We both will be alright,” he said, now sounding more convinced. “And then I will start planning our next date.”

“Sounds good.” He moved a bit until they were resting on the same pillow and he kissed him slowly, enjoying the moment and Draco's desperate noises, how he clutched to him and held on tight. “Good night, love.”

“Good night.” He turned around again so that Harry could spoon him, and just like that they were both asleep.

  


***

  


He woke up with Draco still in his arms. He looked so much smaller than usual, and even though he was slightly taller than him, they just fit perfectly. He kissed his head, and rolled away from him to write to McGonagall and get started on breakfast.

Thankfully for him, Draco was a very heavy sleeper and he liked his beauty rest, so when he was finally done with breakfast he was still sleeping, now cuddled to Harry’s pillow.

“Love,” he said, sitting down next to him and touching his long hair. “Wake up, I made you breakfast.”

“When’s the wedding?” he asked, his voice raspy.

“What wedding?” Was Draco still dreaming?

“Ours.” He finally opened his eyes and smiled at him. It was quite possibly the best sight in the world. Harry only wanted to wake up next to him from now on.

“Just because of breakfast? You are going to make my life really easy.” He leaned down to kiss his forehead. “C’mon, before it gets cold.” He climbed over him, careful not to spill their coffees or drop the pancakes, and he sat down with their shoulders pressed together. “Did you sleep well?” he asked, setting the tray on Draco’s legs and keeping the plate for himself.

“Yeah, I always do when I sleep with you.” He had discovered pretty soon that not only was Draco Malfoy a cuddly person, he was also a huge sap first thing in the morning.

“Yeah? Me, too.” He quickly kissed his shoulder just because, then he started eating, looking at Draco from time to time to make sure he liked his food.

“Can we go for a walk later?” he asked, still sounding so incredibly sleepy and adorable.

“Whatever you want.”

“What do _you_ want?”

“Is this a trick question? Am I supposed to be a sap or are you really asking?”

“I’m really asking.” He rolled his eyes, but he was also smiling so Harry counted that as a win.

“Well, I want to go on a walk with my lovely boyfriend, and I want to cuddle him until we have to go back to school.”

“Do you think we could stop in Diagon Alley? I need some things for work.”

“Of course. Do you want me to disguise myself?”

“I’d rather not, if that’s okay.”

“More than okayq.” He smiled to himself, feeling so incredibly happy and warm inside. He knew it was not like saying they were together, but knowing that Draco was at least willing to be seen with him made him feel really hopeful for their future.

They finished eating and they took turns showering, then they left for the closest metro to get to the Leaky Cauldron. They barely talked the whole time, but Harry could feel Draco trying to stay as close as possible to him, even with their hands linked. It felt as if he was scared Harry was going to disappear out of nowhere.

When they got to the metro, Harry thanked all the tourists of the day for forcing him so close to Draco. He let him hold on to a pole, then he wrapped himself around him. “I have nothing to hold on to,” he complained, smiling innocently, even though they both knew it was a blatant lie. Draco just wrapped an arm around him, and he spent the whole time hugging him, even when people started getting off.

“What do you need to buy?” They were almost there, so they weren’t holding hands anymore, which only made Harry clingier and more annoying because he wanted Draco’s attention and especially because he wanted to distract him.

“Mostly quills and ink. But I wanted to start looking for Christmas presents.”

“It’s November.”

“So? Never too early for Christmas.”

“You like Christmas?” For some reason, that idea was incredibly funny to him. Draco, pureblood, raised to hate muggles, loved Christmas. “Is it to piss of your father?”

“No, I genuinely like it.” He smiled at him, though, clearly proud that Harry had thought about that. “I just like shopping, so it’s the perfect excuse for me to splurge and just spoil my loved ones, and I always loved the lights, they make me happy.”

“I really want to kiss you,” he said, and it pained him how much he meant it. Draco just overwhelmed him at times, and the only way to get over it was to kiss him and feel closer to him. Yeah, he was in too deep already.

“We won’t be long, unless you get stopped too much.”

“I will make it short if it happens.”

They tried to walk as quickly as possible through the Leaky Cauldron, keeping their heads down and not talking, and thankfully they managed to get out with only a couple of people saying hi but not stopping them.

“Better than I was hoping for,” Harry admitted once they were out.

“Same.” Draco opened the passage for them, and even though it was always the same, Harry’s breath still caught in his chest every time he found himself standing there. The first time he had seen that place it had changed his life forever, it had meant finally being free from his uncle, aunt and cousin, and it had brought him some new friends. And now here he was, with his boyfriend. “Are you okay?” Draco touched his back, bringing him back to reality.

“Yes, sorry.” He smiled at him, and almost leaned in for a kiss before remembering they were supposed to be subtle.

“Let’s go, then.”

They quickly reached ‘Amanuensis Quills’, where Draco spent way too much time deciding between a green quill and a red one, until Harry gave up and bought them both for him, ignoring his protests and shutting him up with a sneaky kiss.

Then they just walked around, stopping from time to time to look at something in the shop windows but never going inside, not even for the broomsticks. That is, until they saw the pet shop.

“Can we go inside?” Draco asked, and Harry knew what he was doing, he really did, but Draco’s cute smile and the fact that he just wanted to see him happy made him agree easily.

The shop only had a couple of costumers inside, it wasn’t exactly the time of the year to get pets, but there were so many of them looking at him. Harry wanted them all. Yes, he was aware that it was a big contradiction to what he had said before, but he liked animals, okay?

“You are ridiculous, your fucking eyes just lit up,” Draco said, shaking his head.

“They are so cute.” He saw a kitten staring at him, and he picked him up immediately. “Look at it, don’t you want to kiss him all over?” The cat was so small he could hold it in one hand, its fur was quite long and fluffy, all white with the point of his ears and his paws black, his lively eyes a beautiful blue.

“I wouldn’t do it if I were you,” the shop assistant told him. “Forgive me for my language, but that little thing is a piece of shit. He keeps biting everyone, consider yourself lucky you still have your hand.”

“That can’t be true. You are a good kitten, aren’t you?” He tried to pet him with his other hand and yeah, okay, the cat did bite him, but there was no venom behind it. It almost looked as if the cat was smiling at him, happy to have someone playing with.

“All the other cats hate him, I don’t know what we will do with him if he doesn’t calm down.”

At that Harry felt his heart drop. That was the part he hated most about pet shops, the fact that he knew not all of them were going to get their happy ending.

Draco got closer, and the cat looked at him with curious eyes. “How much does it hurt from one to ten?” He put his hand close to the kitten and moved his fingers until he bit him. “You are just playing, aren’t you?” The cat seemed to answer him and rolled on his back on Harry’s hands, looking at Draco expectantly. “Oh, look at you, what a show off. Are you trying to buy my love?” He got closer, so that only Harry and the kitten could hear. “It’s working.” He then looked at Harry, looking conflicted for half a second. “I’ll get him” he said, loud enough for the shop assistant to hear.

“What?” both Harry and the other guy asked.

“I like him, I’ll get him.”

“I mean, okay. Thanks,” the guy said.

“I need, well, everything. Could you please get me everything I need to take care of him?”

“Of course, sir.” The guy left, leaving them alone with the kitten.

“Draco, what are you doing?” he asked, clearly confused.

“Getting a cat.” He started petting his little head, and the cat nuzzled against his hand. Fuck, he was in love already.

“Why?” Harry looked on the verge of a breakdown, as if he was the one who had just adopted a cat on impulse to please his boyfriend.

“Because he is cute and lonely and you are too stubborn to get him for yourself so I’ll adopt him and pretend it’s for me and you can come visit him whenever you want.”

“It’s a big responsibility.” He reached out to touch his side, looking for some physical contact.

“I know, so try not to die and leave me alone with him.” He put his hand over Harry’s and smiled at him.

“Are we adopting a cat together?” Suddenly it hit him. What the actual fuck. They had talked about it two days before.

“No, _I_ am adopting a cat. You are just dad’s boyfriend, until you are one hundred percent sure you want a pet, he is mine.” He took the kitten from his hand.

“Are you sure? Like you do realise what you are doing, right?”

“Yes, I’m sure. Besides, I’m going to be lonely once you leave.” He pouted, a full-on pout on his lips, and he lifted the cat next to his face.

“No, don’t even try it.” He moved away, ignoring Draco’s sad eyes. “Not working,” he lied. Damn it, now he even had a cat to try and win him over any time they disagreed on something. He was fucked.

“I really want him. I’ve been thinking about getting a pet for a while now. I really am lonely when I’m home alone and don’t have kids scream out of my room.”

“Babe,” he said, giving in once again. Fuck Draco Malfoy, honestly. What was he doing to him? He reached out again to touch his cheek. “You and your cat look really cute together,” he simply said, moving his hand from him to the furry ball in his hands. The cat seemed very peaceful, not the beast the guy had made him out to be. And he knew cats were little shits who tricked you, but he had no doubt that Draco was going to give this little cat all his love anyway. “Should we go back to the castle straight away? So he can settle in?”

“Alright, sounds like a good idea.”

They separated right as the shop assistant came back with a carrier for the cat, bowls, brushes, food, a litter box and sand to put inside. “This should be it,” he said, looking very happy.

“Thank you.” Draco followed him to pay, while Harry ventured around the shop for a moment. He stopped to say hi to the owls, then he moved to the cat section and selected some toys for his new adopted baby. Even if Draco had said it wasn’t his cat for now, they both knew Harry was going to spoil him so much and be a very annoying pet parent. “Harry?” Draco found him with a toy mouse wriggling in his hands. “Ready to go?”

“I’m just going to get him some toys, is that alright?”

“Of course, thank you.” He smiled knowingly at him, and silently put a red collar in his hands. The cat had been put inside his carrier and all his other things shrunken inside a bag.

“What are you going to call him?” he asked, finally leaving the aisle to go pay.

“I don’t know. I like Theodore. Or Timothy.”

“Theodore is nice,” Harry said, smiling to himself. Draco and his posh names. Who the fuck calls a cat Theodore?

“Yeah? Theodore it is, then.”

“You are ridiculous,” he couldn’t help but say. 

They left the shop with a lot less money and a crying kitten.

“Okay, time to go. My baby needs some food.” He basically threw his bag at Harry, and hold the carrier close to his chest. “This is going to be uncomfortable, sweetheart, but we will be home soon.” Harry was doomed. How was he supposed to resist Draco talking to his cat?

“You call him sweetheart but not your boyfriend?”

“Shut up you, and try to keep up.”

“Replaced by a cat.” He followed Draco, unable to stop smiling. He was so happy he couldn’t believe it. Not only because of the cat, but the reason they had gotten him. He knew Draco was still quite closed off, still not totally comfortable with showing affection if not in the middle of the night or when he was exhausted, so the fact that he was doing this for him made it all so much more special.

They managed to find a somewhat hidden corner, and together they apparated to the castle. It sounded like a better idea than going together inside a bar and asking to use their Floo.

“Is he ok?” Harry asked immediately, ignoring his own nausea. The cat was sleeping, cuddled up on himself, with a cute stuffed animal next to him. “I think I’m in love,” he said, not tearing his eyes away from him.

“Yeah, me too.” He was still looking at Harry, who was beaming at their cat. “Let’s go.”

They walked slowly, careful not to wake up the little beast. When they reached the castle, a few students were just walking by, enjoying the chilly air of November. They all said hi, but were too preoccupied noticing the cat to even think about the fact that Harry and Draco were coming home together.

“My room?” Draco asked in a whisper.

“He’s yours.”

“Alright.”

They got to his room, and immediately started setting up the things they had gotten for Theodore, while he sniffed around and took a tour of the place. Not that there was much to see. A small bedroom with just a bed, a closet and a desk, the bathroom, and a small living room with a sofa and a table.

“Do you think he can stay with you while I have my classes? I don’t want him to be lonely.”

“If everything goes well this case will be closed by tomorrow,” he reminded him.

“Right, I had forgotten about that.”

“Everything will be fine, I promise you.” He forced him away from the litter box and helped him stand. “Trust me, okay?” He hugged him, relieved when Draco just went with it and kissed his neck. “I have a kid now, I need to take care of him.”

“And me,” he whispered.

“And you, that was a given, my love.”

“I’m sorry, I’m a bit of a mess today.” He moved away and went back to what he was doing.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“Not really, no.”

“Okay. Listen, don’t take this the wrong way, I’m only bringing this up because I care about you. But are you sure? You almost fainted when you saw the unicorn, I don’t want to risk it. What if you panic in the middle of the forest?”

“I will panic if you leave me here and I don’t know how you are doing.”

“You have to promise me you will do everything I ask you to. If I tell you to run away or hide, you do it, no question, no turning back.”

“Alright.”

“Okay then.” He sighed, resigned, and went looking for Theodore. He found him on the sofa, not scared like he thought he was going to be at first, no, he looked like he already owned the place. And them. “Hello there.” He sat down next to him and started petting him slowly, not wanting to startle him too much. “Your dad is pissed, can you help me?” He picked him up and went back to Draco, who was now setting up a corner for his toys. “Dad,” he said, putting Theodore in front of his face.

Draco turned around with his eyebrow lifted. “Please no.” He was smiling now, not fully, not his beautiful big smile, but it was something.

“But dad.” He got closer and crouched down, keeping Theodore in front of his face. “Dad Harry is sorry.”

“This is the worst thing you’ve ever done,” he said, not able to stay serious. “Also, dad Harry doesn’t work, what about papa?”

“Or daddy?” He smirked at him, smug when Draco adverted his eyes.

“Papa will do.”

“Alright.” He moved closer to kiss his cheek. “Are we okay?”

“Yes, I’m sorry, I’m just worried.”

“I know, and I get it. I just don’t want to see you like this, ever.” He let Theodore go, since he had started moving around as soon as he had seen the charmed mouse toy, and he moved closer to Draco to hold his hand. “This is my job, you have to accept it. There is a programme at the Ministry for partners of Aurors on a mission, or you could talk with Hermione, she’d understand.”

“Do you think she’d talk with me?”

“Of course, especially if you asked her. Yesterday night as she was leaving, she told me she liked how you are with me, and that she is happy for us.”

“I could send her a letter.” He must have been really desperate and upset if he had accepted so quickly. He expected him to put on a fight, to argue that he was fine and he could do it on his own.

“Sounds like a plan.” He opened his arms, and Draco immediately fell into him. “I’m proud of you,” he said softly, his mouth almost pressed against Draco’s soft hair.

“Because of my breakdown? I will have many more, don’t worry.”

“I’m proud of you for telling me and being open to the idea of seeking help.” He held him closer when he felt Draco getting uncomfortable.

“Oh, that.”

“Yes, that. We are doing great at this relationship thing, don’t you think?”

“I have nothing to compare it to.”

“Are you happy?” He leaned back to look him in the eyes.

“I am. Happier than I’ve ever been, or at least happier than I can remember being. And that’s the scary part, because my happiness depends solely on you. I know it’s not heathy, don’t go into therapist mode with me.”

“It’s not, but we can find something else that makes you happy when I’m not here. What about flying?”

“Haven’t done it in years.”

“Me neither. We should go on a flying date, what do you say? Pick up our broomsticks again, race each other like the good old times.”

“We can do that, yes.”

“And you like reading, and teaching. I think you just need a little push. You’ve been sad for so long, you don’t know how to enjoy basic things.”

“What did I say?”

“This I just Harry talking, not pretend-therapist Harry.”

“I’m messed up.”

“That’s why I like you, you are my special boy.”

“Go back to therapist.”

“Idiot.” He simply kissed him, pulling him against his chest and enjoying the moment fully, despite the hard floor under his ass and Theodore playing with his shoe laces. “Can I be really sappy for a moment?”

“What was it until now?”

“Stop being a dick.” He pinched his side. “I just wanted to say that as long as we are together, and I plan on being with you for a long time, I will do my best to make you happy and make you feel appreciated and loved.”

“Are you happy?”

“I am, I really am.” And he really meant it. Draco had gone from being his sort of nemesis, to a friend, to the person he loved. Holy shit he was in love. When did that happen? They had been properly together one week. It was not normal, was it?

“You’ve gone pale, are you alright?”

“Yes, I’m fine.”

In that moment Theodore decided he needed their full attention, and they spent the rest of the day holed up in Draco’s room playing with him, asking the elves to bring them food so they wouldn’t have to leave even for their meals.


	5. Chapter 5

The next morning Harry woke up with Draco curled up against him. His head was on his shoulder and his hair all over his face, while his legs were somehow intertwined to his. He really turned into a giant octopus during the night.

He stayed there for a while, just enjoying the warmth of Draco cuddling him, then he realised they needed to get up soon if they didn’t want to miss breakfast and Draco’s first class.

“Love,” he said softly, brushing his hair from his face. “Wake up.”

Draco stirred, then wrapped his arms around him and tried to go back to sleep.

“You know I don’t have it in me to wake you up more than twice.” It was true. Just a couple of days earlier they had ended up falling asleep again because Harry felt bad waking him up when he looked so peaceful. “We need to eat breakfast. If you get up now, we could even have some time to play with Theodore.”

That seemed to pique his interest. He moved just enough to be able to look at him, and he finally smiled at him, sleepy and adorable as always. “Hi,” he whispered. He brushed his nose against his jawline and turned on the other side.

“Don’t you dare.” He sat up and pinched his hip. “I’m going to get ready, I want to see you sitting up by the time I’m back.” He left a kiss on his shoulder, then he rolled out of bed. “Theodore, wake up your dad.” He picked up the cat from where he was sleeping on the couch, and positioned him on Draco’s head.

As expected, they were both sleeping when he came back. Theodore had curled up on the pillow next to him, and Draco had fallen asleep with his hand over his little tummy.

“Okay, as adorable as this is, I need you to get up.” He sat down next to them and started petting both of their heads. What was his life, honestly.

“Okay, fine. I hate you.” Draco finally sat up, looking so cuddly Harry was having a hard time sticking to his plan for the day.

“No, you don’t, we have a kid together.” He picked up Theodore, hugging him close to his chest. Seriously, had people even tried to pet him?

“Go fuck yourself, Potter.” He lost all of his venom one second after, when he leaned in to kiss him.

“After you are ready.” He got up and moved to Theodore’s corner to feed him. “Slowly, you little monster.” He sat down next to him and just watched him eat. It was weird, but he could see himself with a cat. He didn’t know if he was ever going to have that bond again, but in a way, Theodore reminded him of Hedwig. For starters, they were both white with a bit of black, they both were little rascals who liked to bite but also enjoyed a good cuddle. Then there was obviously the fact that Draco looked adorable with Theodore, and he really was a sucker for his boy.

“Did papa feed you?” Draco asked as he was leaving the bathroom, all dressed up for his lesson. “Yes, he did.” He crouched down next to them, leaning against Harry for support. The impeccable Draco Malfoy was incredibly lazy and uncoordinated first thing in the morning. It was actually one of the things he loved most. There was nothing posh about him, he was just a young man who liked to sleep in and hated early mornings. For the Christmas holidays he was planning on taking him away a couple of days and just spend them in bed.

“Shall we go?” he asked while getting up. He checked one last time that Theodore had enough water and food and that all the surfaces were clean in case he wanted to snoop around.

“Yeah, I’m ready.”

They left with Theodore looking at them as if he was asking them to stay, and Harry had to drag Draco out of the room before he gave in.

  


It was ten, everyone was there, ready to finally find out what was going on inside the forest.

McGonagall had insisted to go with them, so now they were in seven. Draco was shaking next to him, and he looked pale, but every time Harry looked at him, he just nodded and straightened his back.

“Okay, we will not split up for this. No matter who you are, if one of you gets away, I’m going to personally hex you," he said, looking around the circle they had formed. Everyone nodded, even McGonagall. “If someone tells you to do something, you do it without questioning it, chances are that by the time you make sure it was actually dangerous, it will be too late.” He didn’t take his eyes off Draco while saying that, and his boyfriend just nodded. “Good.”

“How are we going to find this ghost or whatever it is?” McGonagall asked.

He knew he couldn’t get in trouble, and yet he felt his cheeks heat up at that question. “Well, you are not going to like this.” He took the Map from his pocket and opened it in the middle of their circle. “My father and his friends created it, Draco managed to alter it and extend it to the forest.”

“I see. Did you use it in school?”

“I will not confirm nor deny.”

“I take that as a yes. But enough of that.”

“Last time we saw him his dot was here,” Draco said, pointing almost in the middle of the forest, or well, the forest they knew. It went so much farther than that, but hopefully whatever they were looking for never went too far. “We noticed it because it kept going back and forth. There must be some sort of path there.”

“Okay, let's go then.” Harry said, turning around to face the forest.

“Be careful, please,” Draco whispered in his ear, grabbing his arm with way too much strength.

“You too.” He pressed a kiss against his cheek, not really caring who was looking at them. “Ready?” He looked behind himself, to check that everyone was where they were supposed to be. Behind him stood one of the new Aurors, Tom, then Draco, McGonagall, the other Auror Mark, and Ron and Hagrid in the back. He started walking, keeping the Map at his side and the wand ready. The forest was thick and dark, but some light still managed to get through, so they had decided to light up their torches only if needed, to draw as little attention as possible.

They walked for over fifteen minutes, then they stopped to check the Map. Rowle’s dot had moved slightly, getting closer to them. They couldn’t be more than ten minutes away from him. He turned quickly to check on Draco, then he started walking again.

He was getting more nervous as the time went by, but for the first time he wasn’t scared about himself. What if the guy wasn’t a ghost? What if he was going to recognise Draco and attack him? Harry had no idea what he would have done at that point. He didn’t want to screw up, but he was ready to if it meant saving him. And that’s why they tell you to never mix work and feelings.

They stopped again when they were almost there, to check the Map one last time. “We are here. Keep your eyes open.” He pocketed the Map to have both hands free, and he started looking around. He got closer to Draco while everyone was looking for signs, and he held his hand for a couple of seconds. “You are safe,” he whispered. “He is not here, he can't hurt you.” 

“Thank you.” He took a deep breath, and started moving around like the others were doing.

Harry looked at him for a couple of seconds, then he went back to doing his job.

It was extremely creepy, he had to admit it. The silence of the forest, how dark it had suddenly gotten, the slow movements of the trees, which almost looked charmed to follow a pattern. He really wanted to just get out of there as soon as possible.

And then someone screamed, and it wasn’t just someone, it was Draco, and it was a scream of pain. He turned around quickly, ready to kill anyone who had even dared touching his boyfriend, but he had to stop.

 _Something_ had its hand wrapped around Draco's neck. It was hard to see, but it looked very thin and all white and slimy, with those empty eyes he had seen from the grounds. And then it clicked.

“It's and inferius," he said, feeling his blood freeze suddenly. It didn’t make sense, it wasn’t possible. Why was he showing up in the Map? Who was controlling him? “Fire scares them," he said, noticing the confused expression on Tom and Mark’s faces. “But we need to get Draco back.”

Draco was just staring at him, pale and scared, shaking against that thing. He didn’t look completely lucid, which was good because he was probably less aware of what was going on, but also a problem because it meant he was not able to follow orders.

He could feel his own magic getting restless, escaping his control more and more as time went by. It was clear that that wasn’t a normal inferius, otherwise Draco would have been dead already.

“What do you want,” he tried to ask, taking a step closer.

“Life," he said, with a voice that sounded like nails on a blackboard. 

He tried to take another step forward, but that only served to piss him off. He pushed harder against Draco's throat, leaving him breathless.

“Okay, we will help you if you let him go.” He was losing his patience, he knew it. Another pained noise from Draco and he was going to jump on them.

“His life.” Suddenly his mouth was on Draco's neck, and he was screaming so loud that some animals ran away.

And then it stopped, and Draco was on all fours on the ground, coughing blood, while Ron was attacking the creature, whatever it was, with fire from the back. “Boys, get him," he ordered, never stopping the fire.

Tom and Mark obeyed immediately, somehow managing to tie his legs up, and before he could fall on Draco, Harry was at his side helping him get away.

“Draco please, talk to me," he said, circling his shoulder with an arm to stop his shaking. “Love, please.”

“He needs to get to the infirmary.” McGonagall stepped next to him. “Harry, let Hagrid carry him to the castle.”

“I can’t leave him,” he said, panicked.

“He needs help, no one can do anything here.” She put a hand on his shoulder and moved him out of the way, so that Hagrid could pick him up.

“Go with them, I got this,” Ron told him, not that he really needed his authorisation considering he had already decided he was not going to leave Draco's side until he was fine.

They run to the castle as fast as possible. Draco had lost his senses after almost five minutes, but his breathing seemed to be relatively normal considering what had just happened.

When they got there, Madam Pomfrey basically sent away all other students complaining for a cold, and sent Hagrid to call some healer from the hospital as soon as Harry told her what had happened.

“Will he be fine?” he asked, not able to take his eyes away from his boyfriend. He looked so pale and fragile now, with his messy bun and ripped clothes, blood covering his neck where that thing had bitten him.

“Have I ever not fixed a patient?” she asked, almost offended. “He will be fine, don’t worry,” she said once she realised how shaken Harry actually was.

She started inspecting Draco after having disinfected his neck, and by the expressions she made she didn’t seem too worried. That was a good sign.

“Sit down, Harry, I don’t need you to pass out as well.” With a flick of her wand a chair came straight from her office to him, and he sat down obediently. “I’m going to give him a general antidote just in case, but I will consult with the other healers as soon as they get here.”

“Okay, thank you.”

“Do you need anything?” she asked, gently.

“Just take care of him.”

“Well this is unexpected,” she muttered, leaving him alone for a couple of minutes while she retreated her vials.

He took advantage of that and got closer to Draco to hold his hand. He was still very pale, but his breathing and his pulse were back to normal and his face seemed peaceful, not screwed up in pain like it had been before. The marks on his neck were also disappearing quickly, which Harry hoped was a good sign.

Just as Madame Pomfrey was coming back, two healers entered the infirmary, and before he could use his famous card, he found himself in the hallway.

“How is he doing?” Harry jumped at Hagrid’s voice. He must have been really out of it not to notice him.

“Madame Pomfrey says he will be fine, she just wanted to be cautious.”

“That's great.”

“Yeah.” He sat down next to him, holding his head with both hands. Now that he had the time to actually think about what had happened, he was starting to feel dizzy and nauseous.

“So. You and Draco. Didn’t see this coming,” Hagrid said, trying to keep him occupied.

“Neither did I,” he admitted “and yet here we are, with a kitten.”

“A kitten?”

“Fuck, we have a kitten.” Without adding anything else he sprinted to Draco’s room. “Theodore. I’m so sorry, dad got hurt.” He picked him up from the sofa, where he was sleeping peacefully, clearly not caring at all that he had been alone for two hours. “Come, let’s go surprise dad.” He put him in his carrier just to be safe, he didn’t really know how he was going to behave outside and he was already too worried for Draco to lose sight of Theodore. Not to mention that Draco would have killed him if he had lost their kitten.

He walked back to infirmary, much slower this time, and he wasn’t surprised at all when Madame Pomfrey threatened to cut his head if he tried to free ‘the beast’ inside her infirmary.

“He’s here as moral support,” he protested, sitting on his chair next to Draco. “So, what did they say?”

“Everything seems normal. Someone will have to examine the thing that attacked him, just to see what he could have actually done to professor Malfoy, but we gave him all the potions to stop unknown poisons and infections, so he should be fine.”

“Do you think he will wake up soon?”

“We decided to sedate him while the potions do their job, he should be up in two hours.”

“Great, thank you.”

“Just because you seem about to pass out, I will close the curtains around the bed and pretend I don’t know you are on the bed with him.”

“Thank you.” He waited for her to separate them from the rest of the room, then he left Theodore's carrier on the chair and he settled down next to Draco, who stirred in his sleep to hold him but didn’t wake up. As soon as his head hit the pillow, he was asleep as well.

  


He woke up to Draco caressing his head, his other hand on his stomach and their legs intertwined. “Hi, love,” he whispered, immediately holding him closer. “How are you feeling?”

“I don’t know what happened,” he admitted. “I don’t even know if you were hurt or if I was.”

“You were attacked, you lost consciousness on the way here.” His voice was more flat now, just the thought of what had happened too much to stomach.

“Okay, good.”

“Good?”

“Better me than you.”

“I have to disagree.” He held him tighter, scared he might disappear otherwise. “I’m so sorry, Draco,” he then said, feeling close to tears.

“About what?” He went back to caressing him, trying in every way to comfort him and make him feel better.

“I didn’t protect you like I had promised you.”

“I’m just glad you are okay. I’ll be fine.”

“It was horrible,” he whispered, hiding his face against his neck.

“I’m fine now, everything is oayk.” He kissed his head, then moved down to be face to face. “Harry, look at me.” He waited for him to open his eyes, then he smiled at him. “Hello, there, beautiful.”

“I’m sorry, I know you are the one who was attacked and not me.”

“Well at least now you get why I’m so worried about your job.” He pinched his side, then kissed him quickly to make up for it.

“I do.” He stared at him for a couple of seconds, then he sat up. “Wait here, I’ll go call Madame Pomfrey.” He got up quickly and left to find the school matron. He found her in her office, reading an old book. “Draco woke up,” he said as soon as he had her attention.

“Very well, let me see.”

They went back to Draco, who had sat up and had managed to put the carrier on his bed to play with Theodore.

“Professor, how are you feeling?” she asked, waving her wand over his body.

“I’m confused, but physically I’m fine.”

“Everything is normal.” She put her wand away and just stared at him for a moment. “The healers from the hospital are taking care of some last things, just as a precaution, but you should be able to go to your room tonight.”

“Okay, thank you.”

“Now rest, both of you. The headmistress will arrive soon, she wants to talk with you.” She left before they could even answer.

As promised, McGonagall arrived soon after, surprising them while they were playing with Theodore.

“Boys, how are you doing?” she asked, moving the carrier to sit on the chair. She looked exhausted too, and Harry really couldn’t blame her. Then he realised he should have been sitting in the chair and flushed immediately. Whatever.

“I'm fine, I just need a good night of sleep,” Draco said, ignoring Harry’s death stare. Had it been for him, he would have put him in bed rest for a week.

“And you?” She was looking at him now, almost more worried than she had been for Draco. Had he really looked that desperate?

“I’m alright, I just want to make sure that thing is never coming back and that whatever he did to Draco was not dangerous.”

“Well we don’t have an explanation, not yet at least, but I can tell you more about what we found.”

“Yes, please.” Without realising it he reached over to take Draco’s hand.

“Okay. That was Rowle, as you already suspected, it seems like he has been transformed into an inferius, but the transition must have been too soon after his death, because some part of his soul latched to the creature. That’s why he seemed to be vigilant and conscious. We don’t know yet who turned him, he is not that smart, but it seems like all the deaths were part of a long process to bring him back to life? Especially considering he killed a couple of unicorns.”

“Where is he now?”

“Ron took him to the Ministry, so that they can keep him away from people and also analyse him. The biggest mystery right now is how he killed his victims.”

“Well, I don’t remember much, but when he bit me, I felt like I was being drained?” Draco said, and immediately Harry’s hand tightened in his. It was good that Draco was starting to remember, but he almost wished he could just forget the whole experience.

“Maybe he just uses magic to remove the organs,” Harry suggested. “He seemed conscious enough to do that.”

“Maybe, yeah. You two should really rest, though. This case is not yours anymore, Robards finally came to his mind.”

“But-“ Harry tried to protest.

“No, I personally asked him not to let you anywhere near this. You are too involved, you’d put yourself in danger,” McGonagall said, and really, he was an adult with a job and a kitten he had adopted with his boyfriend, but he was not going to say no to her.

“Okay, professor.” He gave up and just rested back against the headboard, with Theodore immediately coming to him to sleep on his lap.

“You can go rest in a proper bed, you know?” Draco said softly, moving his hair away from his face. “I’ll be fine on my own.”

“I can’t leave you right now, sorry.”

“Well I can, I’ll see you tomorrow, gentleman.” McGonagall got up and left, leaving them very red and embarrassed. How could they have forgotten that she was there?

“I’m fine, Harry, really.”

“I know, but I was so scared. I need to be close to you now. Is it alright?” he asked, already laying down to be more comfortable.

“Of course it is, love.” He shimmied down to be able to rest his head on his shoulder. “And thank you for staying with me the whole time.”

“Where else should I have been? I would have lost my mind.”

“I’m sorry I scared you. When I saw him coming my way it was too late, I was just frozen on the spot.”

“It’s okay, this is not your job, you are not trained for this.”

“I know, I just-I felt really vulnerable and scared, I hadn’t felt like this in so long. I think I’ll start going to therapy again, my semi-annual check-ups are not enough.”

“That’s a very good idea, my love. I’m proud of you.”

“Thank you.”

Just as they were about to drift off to sleep again, Hermione and Ron appeared from behind the curtains.

“Hello, how are you doing?” Hermione asked gently, but her eyes immediately went to Theodore sleeping on his chest. “Who is that?”

“That’s Theodore, our baby,” Harry said, a mix between embarrassed and proud.

“You got a cat?” Ron looked shocked, as if that was the most absurd thing in the world. Maybe it was.

“Well, Draco got a cat, I’m the adoptive father.”

“And you are okay with it?” Hermione asked, very cautiously. She knew how much he had struggled after Hedwig, they all did, and all of them had tried to convince him to get a new pet and not deprive himself of that special bond.

“Yeah, I mean, look at his cute little face.” He bopped his nose lightly, smiling to himself when Theodore stirred in his sleep.

“And where is he going to stay?”

“Here, Draco will have to bring him to my house whenever he comes visit.” The idea made him sad, which was totally ridiculous considering they’d had him for a day.

“Or we could do half-half” Draco suggested, petting their furry kitten. “I wouldn’t mind it, at least he can get used to your house as well.”

“Won’t that confuse him?”

“Maybe at first, but he seems smart enough, he will get used to it in no time.”

“Then we can try that.” He twisted his head to be able to kiss Draco’s forehead.

“Okay, very lovely, I just wanted to see if you have questions about the case and then we will leave,” Ron said. He sounded slightly annoyed, but he was looking at him with very happy eyes.

“Not really, McGonagall just said I’m not on the case anymore.”

“Well I am, I can keep you posted.”

“That’d be great, thanks.”

“Well I guess I will see you at work tomorrow “

“Yeah, guess so.” He tried to ignore Draco's hand clasping around his arm. He was going to miss spending all his time with him.

“Rest, and call if you need anything.” Hermione leaned down over him to kiss his cheek, then she moved to pet Theodore. “He's really cute. Crookshanks would love to meet him next time you come visit.”

“We'll bring him.”

“Good. Take care, Malfoy.”

“Uh, you too. See you soon.”

They all said good bye, and once again they were alone.

“When are you leaving?” Draco asked after a couple of minutes of silence, broken only by their cat purring loudly.

“It would be better to leave tonight, but I guess I could sleep with you and leave early in the morning.”

“Sounds good."

“I’m going to miss you.”

“Not yet." He turned slightly to hide his face against his neck, and he threw an arm over his chest to hold him close.

“Draco.” Maybe it wasn’t the best time for a love confession, but seeing Draco in his arms, with Theodore sleeping on his tummy, just made him feel so happy and at peace that he couldn't help himself. “I love you,” he whispered against his hair, marvelling at the fact that his hair still smelled of apples.

Draco stiffened in his arms, then slowly lift his head to look him in the eyes.

“You don’t have to say anything,” he assured him, caressing his cheek. “I just wanted you to know that I’m serious about us. Not seeing each other every day won't change anything, because I really care about you.”

Draco was still staring at him, apparently unable to form words.

“I know it's soon, I just really wanted to say it. Please say something before I keep talking and embarrass myself even more.”

“I’m sorry,” he said, going back to rest on him.

“That's fine," he rushed to say. “I know it’s early, I-“

“I’m sorry for not answering immediately. Of course I feel the same, it's just hard to say it.”

“You do?” He was relived but also somewhat surprised.

“I’ve had a crush on you for half of my life, what do you think? I’m just not used to expressing my feelings out loud?”

“You don’t have to tell me, I know you also care about me. I mean you got a cat for me.”

“I just don’t want you to think I don’t have feelings for you because it might take me a while to say it. And I know I’m basically telling you, it's just that those specific three words really scare me. They make everything seem more real, and then what if you leave? I would have exposed myself too much.”

“Draco, I legit just told you that I love you. I don’t want to leave you, I want this to work, and I will do whatever I can to make it last, okay? kDo you not trust me or is there more?”

“I do, I trust you. I just don’t feel-“

“If you say worthy, I swear I will hex you.”

“But I do.”

“And you are wrong. Everyone thinks we are good together. You know who made me realise you might have liked me? Ginny, my ex, and all of her family agreed. Hermione likes you, McGonagall basically told me you were pining after me. All of those people think you are good for me, and most importantly I think you are good for me.”

“Why?”

“I already told you why. You are a loving and nice human being, who is patient and lovely to his students, who got a cat just to help me overcome my stupid fears, who came in the forest even though you were scared just to make sure I wasn’t going to get myself killed. You are a good person, Draco, and you deserve love. Mine, Theodore's, whoever you want. And if you don’t want to believe me, I will just try my best every day to make you feel loved, sounds good? Are you ready for some of the sappiest letters ever written?”

“Was it supposed to sound like a threat?”

“Yes, it was.”

“You succeeded.” He sat up, looking down at Harry. “I’m sorry, it must be frustrating for you.”

“Okay first of all, you don’t apologise for your feelings. Second of all, it's fine, I don’t care. As long as you are happy, I can live without you ever telling me you love me. It's all in the little things, isn’t it?"

“What are you, an expert on love?”

“No, but I know you.” He sat up as well, bringing Theodore with him and holding him in his arms. “And I know how you show people you care.”

“Alright then,” he said, finally giving up.

“All good?”

“Yeah.”

“Come here.” He gently put Theodore on the bed and he hugged Draco. “Did I freak you out?” he asked, resting his chin on his shoulder.

“No, it was just unexpected.”

“Well yeah, we’ve been a couple for a week.” He pulled away and tried to hide his embarrassment. He really had fallen quite fast for him.

“We’ve been closer for a while, though.” He forced him to lift his chin so he could look at him. “I like that you are open and honest about your feelings. I’ve never had this before, not even with my parents.”

“That’s exactly why I’m like this, ‘cause I didn’t have it either. I don’t want to leave you wondering how I’m feeling, I will always tell you whatever is going on in my mind.”

“Thank you.”

“Anything for you.” He pinched his cheek, then he got up before Draco could get his revenge. “What do you say we get out of here and ask the elves to make us something to eat in bed?”

“Yes, please.”

After another check-up, and a long scolding about keeping an animal loose in the infirmary, they finally managed to go back to Draco's room and spend their last hours together.

In the evening Harry went back to his own room to pack his things, and then he stopped by the headmistress’s office to say his goodbyes and ask to be allowed to use the Floo connection the next morning.

“Good evening, Harry” McGonagall greeted him, nodding at the chair in front of her desk.

“Professor.” He sat down and took the cup she offered him. “Thank you.” For some reason, she always had tea ready. Didn’t matter the temperature or the time of the day, if you went to her office you were going to drink tea.

“So, you are leaving tomorrow?”

“Yes. I was wondering if I could use the Floo connection to get to work. Draco will send me my things in the afternoon."

“Of course, should I open the connection in your room or Draco's?” she asked, far too smug for someone who supposedly didn’t know the answer.

“Ehm, Draco's, if that’s okay.” He could feel himself blush, and seriously, how old was he again? He was a man, he was allowed to be in a relationship without feeling embarrassed. That was, however, someone who had seen him as a baby and then during puberty. That poor woman.

“No problem.” She smiled knowingly at him, then lowered he gaze on her cup of tea. “So, I was wondering. Would you be interested in coming here once a week and teach the Duelling club with Draco? You two work really well together, and the students listen to you. Besides, I think you deserve to come and see your cat more often than once a week."

Well that was a surprise. “I would really like it, professor. Can I discuss it with Draco? He will let you know tomorrow morning.”

“Of course, take your time. It's almost Christmas, you could start in the new year?”

“That sounds good.” He smiled at her, really happy about the turn that had taken. “Thank you, really.”

“It's more for the school than for you, Merlin knows I can’t stand a whole year of Draco complaining about missing you.”

“Very good point,” he said, laughing. Draco was going to be so pissed.

“But I also owe it to you two. You did a really great job.”

“I can feel a question about the Map coming up.”

“What Map?” She simply smiled at him, and for a moment Harry was scared she was going to wink, but in the end, she settled for a little nod. “Keep it away from the kids, and you can do whatever you want.”

“Thanks. It's really important to me.”

“I know, I would never take it away from you. Besides, you can you use it when you sleep here. Don’t think you will get away with checking the corridors just because it's you.”

“Sleep here?”

“But of course, after the lessons. I won't ask if you need a room.”

That must have been the second most embarrassing conversation of his life, the first being telling Mr and Mrs Weasley that Ginny and him had broken up and then them finding out he was bisexual.

“Thank you, I really appreciate it.”

“You’re very welcome.”

“I better go, I’m pretty sure Draco is going to need a break from Theodore very soon.”

“Very pretty cat, by the way.”

“Isn’t he?” he asked, lighting up. Fuck, he was so gone for that little kitten. “We almost taught him how to sit this evening. I didn’t know cats could do it but Draco insisted that our Theo is so smart.” And he was babbling about his cat. Time to go. “Ehm, anyway. Good night, thank you again.”

“Good night, Harry.” She smiled at him one last time, then went back to the papers in front of her.

He left quickly to go tell Draco what had just happened, but when he arrived in the room, he forgot about everything. Draco was on the sofa, in front of the fireplace, and he was reading a story to Theo, who was sleeping on his lap.

“Are you reading to our cat?”

“Yes, quiet, I’m almost done.”

“I really love you.” He left a kiss on his head. “I’m going to shower.”

As promised, once he left the bathroom, Draco was done reading, and Theodore was in his cage for the night. They had found out that afternoon that in the night he had destroyed their toilet paper and started biting the sofa, so for the time being they decided to keep him in his cage at least while they were sleeping.

“I have good news for you.” He practically jumped on the bed, landing next to Draco. 

“What?” he asked, pretending not to care. He clearly didn’t want to get his hopes up, and the mere idea of Draco because sad because of him was just so incredibly heart-breaking.

“McGonagall asked me, well us really, to keep going with the Duelling club after Christmas. One night a week, whoever wants can come, and I’m allowed to sleep here.”

“Are you being serious?” he asked, and for once Harry really couldn’t read his expression.

“Yeah. I told her I needed to ask you and that you’d give her an answer tomorrow. What do you say?”

“Of course, I want to see you as much as possible, but are you sure you can keep up with everything? I don’t want you to be overworked and that being here is going to be too much and make you hate every minute of it.”

“I could never hate spending time with you. The lessons will be around an hour and a half, then we will have all evening to cuddle and talk.”

“If that’s what you want.”

“Do you want it too?” he asked, very careful not to put too much pressure on him. “Because it's fine if you don't, I mean I don’t know why you wouldn’t want to see me, but it’s fine.”

“I want to see you, I promise.”

“Okay, then what’s the problem? Do you not like teaching with me? Because I can do it alone and then come here to spend time with you. Or have my own room if you need space. Is that the problem? I’m not imposing my presence too much, am I?”

“No, it's not that, I love teaching with you and I love having you here. I don’t know what I was worrying about, I’m sorry.”

“Draco, please."

He sighed, finally giving up. “It's just that it’s going to be so hard. Saying bye to you twice a week.”

“You big sap, you scared me for a moment.” He hugged him immediately, hiding his face against his neck and smelling him, his shower gel and just the unmistakable scent of Draco. “We will see each other more often, and yes we will have to say bye twice but the time in between will be so short you won't even notice it.”

“I know. I’m just being stupid and dramatic.” He held him tighter, then decided to just go for it and moved to sit on his legs and wrap himself all over him.

“That’s my Draco.”

“There is something I need to tell you.” He let go of him, but remained on his legs, with both hands on his shoulders. He waited for Harry to just nod, then took a deep breath. “I sent a letter to my parents when we got together. I just got their answer, they want to meet you.”

“Oh," was all he managed to say. He leaned back against the headboard, looking over Draco's shoulder because he was too afraid to look him in the eyes. He was one hundred percent sure that he would have been able to see his panic.

“We don’t have to, but it has to happen sooner or later. Mother will just come here all the way from Paris if necessary, I know her.” He started caressing his neck with one hand, moving the other to his chest. If he was trying to distract him and get him to agree, it was working.

“When would that be?”

“Probably around Christmas, so a couple of weeks. I’d need to plan our port keys and it takes time.”

“You know where I work, right?”

“Didn’t think you were so eager to meet them.”

“Right, you have a point.” He closed his eyes and reclined his head. He had never met the parents of anyone before. He had known the Weasleys for years before being introduced as Ginny's boyfriend, and it had all been so easy.

“Do you just not want to see my Father or is there something else?” Draco asked, almost in a whisper.

“What if they don’t approve? I can’t imagine they like me much more than I like them.”

There was a big pause. “Are you really worried my parents won’t like you?” He was most definitely trying not to laugh at him.

He opened his eyes, and was met by his boyfriend's beautiful smile. “They are your parents.”

“And the point is? Do you think I care about their opinion? I spent my whole life trying to please them, doing whatever they wanted because I thought they would love me more, now I just want to do whatever makes me happy. I don’t depend on them anymore, I have a job, my own apartment, I have a cat, they can cut me off whenever they want.”

“Don’t say that, they are your family.” He took the hand that was on his chest and kissed it lightly. His stupid obsession with his hands was going out of control.

“So are you.”

“You don’t know how to say I love you, but you telling me I’m your family is okay? How do you even work.” And if he hugged him to hide the fact that he was close to tears, well he didn’t have to know. “Whatever happens, I’ll be there,” he whispered. “You can confirm for dinner, but you should know that there is no way we can skip Christmas with the Weasleys, so you better make sure we will be home in time.”

“You want me to come?” he asked, surprised.

“I meet your family, you officially meet mine. Seems fair.”

“Do you think-"

“They won’t mind,” he cut him off before he could spiral once more. 

“Alright then. Christmas' Eve with my parents, and then dinner with the Weasleys. Okay, I can do it.”

“You sure?” He smiled at his expression, a mix of fear and panic with a tiny bit of determination.

“Yeah. It sounds... nice, actually?”

Harry let go of him to look him in the eyes. “Elaborate.”

“I’ve never had this before. I’m almost excited to experience a big Christmas dinner with people who actually enjoy celebrating and are happy to just be together.”

“You’re going to love it.” He pulled him in for a kiss, letting his hands slip up to his hair and smiling in the kiss when Draco moaned softly.

They parted, slightly breathless, with Draco's hair all over the place and Harry’s shirt half off his shoulder.

Draco cleared his throat way too loudly and got off his legs and back on the bed. “Do you think we could ask your friends to look after Theo?”

“Of course, I’m sure Hermione will like it a lot.” He laid down and turned on his side to look at him. “Come here, cuddle me.”

Draco rolled his eyes, but obeyed anyway and cuddled between his arms. “Thank you for being so patient and understanding.”

“That's what a good boyfriend is supposed to do, you don’t need to thank me.” He bopped his nose just because.

“Still. I appreciate it. A lot. I can’t believe I got this lucky with you.”

“Sap.”

“Who almost cried because I said we are a family?” He retorted, smiling smugly at him.

“I most certainly did not.”

“Liar, your eyes were red.”

“You stink.” Mature, very mature, his best come back ever.

“Oh so you weren’t smelling me earlier?”

“I hate you." He turned around to give him his back, and Draco immediately pressed himself against him. “Please tell me it wasn’t talking about the Weasleys that got you so worked up.”

“Shit.” He moved his hips away, but it was too late. “Sorry.”

“For what? I’d be worried if you never got hard while kissing me.”

“Stop, we do not talk about this. Not now.”

“Fine. But come back here, I need cuddles and I’m cold. Your bloody dungeons just had to be so cold and humid.”

“Don’t be so dramatic, the fire is going and I asked for another blanket.” Still, he got closer again and hugged him, caressing his arm to make sure he was warm.

“Thanks.” He wriggled in his arms just to get settled, no other hidden intention.

“Do you think you can take all of the twenty-four off to go to Paris?”

“Yeah, I’ll work on Christmas morning if they need me. Or maybe I can take a week off. I haven’t been on holiday this year, I still have my days off.” Ron and Hermione had not liked his decision to not take time off work that year, but in that moment, he was very glad for his past self.

“That would be nice.”

“I’ll ask Robards tomorrow. I need to take advantage of the fact that he was wrong and probably feels guilty.”

“Sneaky. I like it.”

“Thanks, babe, I have a good teacher.”

“Lucky you.” He kissed his should and rubbed his nose against it. “I know we wanted to spend the night together, but I'm about to fall asleep.”

“You had a bad day, I get it.”

“Good night."

“Good night, love."

  


***

  


The next morning, he woke up to Theodore meowing and Draco getting up to open his cage. He turned in the bed and watched his sleepy boyfriend stumble around the room to get the cat.

“Ssh, papa is sleeping.” He hugged him against his chest and kissed his little head. “What do you want? Food?” He put him in front of his bowls and sat next to him, just looking at him.

“Love, he can eat on his own," he said, unable to stop his huge smile.

“But he's so tiny.”

“Yes, still able to eat. Come back here.”

Draco got up and immediately went back under the blanket. “Did I wake you up?”

“No, I heard Theo crying.” He hugged him and hid his face against his neck. “I’m going to miss this so much.”

“Me too.”

The stayed like that even when Theodore jumped on the bed and sat between their faces, and didn’t move even when they knew they were both going to be late.

“Are you staying for breakfast?” Draco asked, trying to make the moment last longer.

“No, I’m sorry. I’ll get a coffee when I get to the office.”

“Eat something, I’ll know if you don’t and I’ll send you some cookies.”

“Okay, fine. God, you sound like Molly.” He finally got up and stated getting dressed, while Draco seemed intent on not moving at all. “Love, you will be late.”

“I don’t care. I was attacked yesterday.”

“Yeah and you are doing better than all of us combined cause they knocked you off with some good stuff. Get up."

“Uff, now you sound like McGonagall.”

They finished getting ready in silence, with Theodore following both of them around, especially inside the bathroom.

“I'll fire-call you tonight, okay?” Harry promised, holding both of his hands. “And we will see each other Saturday morning.”

“Please do.”

“A couple of weeks and we will be in Paris together.” He hugged him, trying to squeeze him as hard as he could without hurting him. “Let me say bye to Theo.” He picked up their cat and kissed his head. “Take care of dad, yeah? He needs lots of cuddles and kisses,” he pretended to whisper in his ear. “I really have to go now.” He gave Theodore to Draco and kissed him quickly once last time, then he stepped into the fireplace and just disappeared into the flames.


	6. Epilogue

The mere idea of seeing Lucius Malfoy after all those years was rather unpleasant, the fact that he was his boyfriend's father was straight up terrifying. He had tried to convince himself that it was impossible to impress them and get close to them, that all he had to do was be civil and educated, but he was dreading it so much.

“Calm down, it will just be extremely uncomfortable and boring.” He put a hand on the small of his back while they were waiting for someone to open the door. Draco's parents had moved to a smaller house in the middle of the countryside, surrounded by vineyards and roses.

“Very reassuring, babe, thanks.”

“Always here for you.” He kissed his cheek, pulling him closer. “It’s going to be fine, love.”

Draco's mother opened the door, and before they even had the time to put some space between them, she was already hugging her son. “Draco, love, how are you?” she asked, holding his face and checking him.

“Mother,” he laughed, slightly embarrassed. “I’m fine, they feed me every day and I sleep a lot.”

“You look good." She smiled at him, and finally stepped away to look at Harry. “Mr Potter, it's a pleasure to have you here with us tonight.” She held out her hand, which Harry shook immediately.

“Just Harry, please, and thank you for inviting me. You, uh, have a beautiful house.

“Thank you. Come inside, we can give you a tour later.”

They followed her inside, Draco still with a hand on his back.

“Your father is in the library, could you please go and tell him dinner is ready?”

Draco just looked at Harry for a second, and when he nodded, he left the room to go look for his father.

“So. This must be really weird for you,” Narcissa Malfoy started, leading him into the dining room. The table was right in the middle of the room, with only four places all very far away from each other. It was simply stunning, all white with crystal glasses and beautiful flowers in two twin vases.

“I doubt it's much better for you. But we do have one very important thing in common and I’m sure we both want to do our best for him.”

“Of course. I begged Lucius to be polite tonight, I really hope you won’t hate it too much.” She pointed at the chair in the middle, and he immediately sat down, glad he was going to have Draco sitting right in front of him.

“Me not having fun won't stop Draco from coming here, if that’s what you are worried about.” He watched as she went to her seat and took a sip of water, clearly nervous.

“Well yes, but also I can’t imagine he would want to see his father again if he treats you poorly. You should see what he writes about you in his letters. I really want to thank you for being so nice to him.” He never would have expected to see Narcissa Malfoy smile like that at him, it was almost unsettling.

“I mean, I love him, I want to do everything I can to make him happy.”

“You are succeeding.”

“If you are talking about me, I’m going to puke,” Draco said, entering the room with his father right by his side.

“Draco, language,” his mother said.

“Sorry. I’m going to empty my stomach all over the floor.”

Harry barely managed to hold back his laugh, instead he got up and went closer to them. “Mr Malfoy, thanks for inviting me.” He reached out, and tried his best not to shiver when their hands made contact. That man had ruined his life so many times, he had almost killed Ginny, he had summoned Voldemort, helped him rise again. And here he was, shaking hands with him, just for Draco.

“Glad you could make it,” he said, cold and stern as always. He couldn’t even imagine what it must have been like to grow up with him. Draco had told him he had been more relaxed when he was little, and more loving, but it was just so hard for him to picture it.

“Do we have to sit so far apart?” Draco complained, breaking the silence.

“How would you like to sit?” his mother asked, not looking too happy about the idea of moving.

“Doesn’t matter, let’s just start.” He quickly kissed Harry’s cheek, then walked around the table to sit in front of him. They were too far apart to be able to touch each other under the table, but at least Draco’s parents were even further away.

As soon as they were all seated, a house elf appeared in the room and silently started serving them.

They ate mostly in silent, with Draco making funny faces over his food to make Harry smile, his mother looking at them disapprovingly and Lucius Malfoy just staring into his own plate.

They went from a soup to roast with potatoes, green beans and carrots, and then moved on to a chocolate cake. Harry had discovered not too long ago that Draco loved chocolate more than he loved most people, and ever since he was little all cakes served at the Manor had been filled with chocolate.

“Shall we move to the living room?” Mrs Malfoy asked, already getting up.

They all followed her, Draco and Harry holding hands now that they were finally able to be close again, and Lucius Malfoy just walking quietly behind them.

They sat down on two different white sofas, in front of a beautiful fireplace covered in marble.

“So, how is work going, boys?” Narcissa asked, trying to break the tense silence.

Draco nudged his shoulder, so he just went for it and started talking.

“It's a bit of a mess, to be honest. We’ve heard of a guy who has a pet dragon, but no one seems to be able to find him, which is just ridiculous considering you can’t really miss a dragon flying over your head. We also have another wizard selling potions to muggles, but that happens at least once a month.”

“And what about that thing that attacked Draco? He never told us what happened in the end.”

He looked at his boyfriend to make sure it was okay to talk about it, and when he got his aapproval, he went back to facing his parents. “Well, there really isn’t much to say. We managed to find the witch who had turned Rowle into an inferius, she told us she simply wanted to try, but she probably turned him too quickly after his death or messed something up, so he managed to save a bit of his conscience and after a while he stopped obeying her. When he got dangerous she somehow managed to bring him into the forest and just left him there, where he started killing animals to try and come back to life, I guess? It would never have worked, he just had this notion that unicorn blood helps, and so he tried.”

“Did you actually manage to make him speak?” she asked, impressed.

“No, some of ours had to use several spells on him to look at his memories, then we figured it out and contacted the witch. They are still running some tests on him, I’m not sure what’s going to happen once they are done, we don’t know yet if he can die since he had some human inside of him, or if he will be like this forever.”

“So he wasn’t dangerous? No poison or things like that?”

“No, absolutely not, the only thing that could have hurt Draco was an infection because of how many animals he had bitten. As for the rest, we managed to stop him before he could actually cause some damage to his organs.”

“How exactly did he do that?” Lucius Malfoy asked, talking for the first time in almost an hour.

“We don’t have an answer yet. The theory for now is that he simply removed and ate the organs with magic, and that the only reason he bit his preys was to weaken them enough that they wouldn’t run away.”

“That’s awful.” Narcissa visibly shivered, and reached out to place a hand on her son's leg. “That’s why you don’t go into the forest. Never again.”

Draco rolled his eyes, but still placed his own hand over hers. “Don't worry, I just wanted to make sure Harry wasn’t going to get himself killed. As long as he is safe, I won't do anything stupid.”

“Please tell me you are joking. He is an Autor and an impulsive person, you are going to get hurt if you have to make sure he is always safe.”

“She has a point, love.” Harry wrapped his arm around his back and held back at the last minute from kissing him in front of his parents. They hadn’t discussed it, but the fact that they were all so cold and not very affectionate was a clear indication of how much he could dare in front of them.

“Then be careful.”

“I’m always careful. I have a son to take care of.”

“Excuse me, you have a what now?” Narcissa Malfoy looked so comically shocked that Harry almost laughed in her face. Draco didn’t even try to contain himself, the fucker.

“I think I forgot to tell you that we adopted a car,” Draco finally said, taking pity on his mother and his father, who was leaning toward them, clearly curious.

“A cat? Why did you adopt a cat?” Lucius asked.

“Because I wanted to. His name his Theodore, and he is perfect.”

“And where does he live?” his mother asked, recovering fairly well from news.

“We try to do a week each when Harry isn’t away too much for work.” He cuddled more into his side at that, trying to be as close as possible. He really hated when Harry was on a mission or working until late, not only because they didn’t have time to talk, but also because he was constantly worried. He really hoped Hermione was going to agree and talk to him after the Christmas dinner.

“That sounds nice,” she tried to say, still not fully convinced.

“It is, he keeps me company.”

At that Harry just couldn’t help himself and he kissed his cheek. “Don't try and make me feel guilty, you have tons of people around you all day.” He subtly started caressing his waist, smiling when he felt Draco just melt at his side.

“Most of them aren’t even legal yet “

“A tiny detail. You are more like them than you realise,” he teased.

“Fuck you, Potter.” He elbowed him, not hard enough to hurt.

“Would anyone like coffee?” Narcissa asked, interrupting them when it looked like her husband was going to explode.

“Can I have tea? I can’t sleep if I drink coffee too late,” Draco said, and for some reason Harry found him so adorable. There really was nothing purer than watching someone interact with their mother. No matter what, it was like they all went back in time to being a child, and even though they didn’t have the closest bond, it was like that for Draco too. He had another energy entirely around his mother, a bit childish at times but also extremely cute.

“Of course, dear. Harry?”

“Coffee, thank you.”

“I’ll be right back.” She left the room quickly. She clearly needed some fresh air, Harry couldn’t imagine Narcissa Malfoy doing the job of her elf.

“Is mother okay?” Draco asked his father.

“She was nervous about tonight, nothing to worry about,” he said, quickly brushing it off.

“Why?”

“Isn’t it obvious? We don't exactly have a great history with your boyfriend, she was scared something was going to happen and that you’d never come visit again.”

“She told me the same thing in the dining room,” Harry admitted.

“Well it's going alright, yeah?”

“No one has been hurt or offended so far, so I guess we could say it's going fine," his father said, leaning back and reaching for a glass of whiskey.

“The standards were very low,” Draco muttered, falling more into him. “How are you doing?” he whispered.

“I’m fine, it’s going well.” He put his free hand on his leg to squeeze it. “You?”

“It's nice having you all here, like a proper family.”

“I’m glad.” He kissed him quickly after making sure Lucius wasn’t looking. “Another ten years and we will have dinner with the Weasleys too.”

“Woah, optimistic.”

“It has to happen sooner or later. When we get married, they will all be there.”

“Oh, now we are getting married?” He sat up more upright to look at him, and Harry was expecting a more panicked smile, not a huge grin and crinkled eyes.

“Hopefully.”

“Fuck, this is so weird.” He hugged him, ignoring his father looking at them with a scared expression. He might have heard the word ‘married'. “I’m so happy.”

“I’m glad, I’m happy too.”

“Did I miss something?” Narcissa asked, coming back into the room. She just smiled at them, clearly happy for her son.

“I just wanted some cuddles,” Draco said, embarrassed. It had taken him some time to get used to affection in public, and not even real public, just around Harry's friends, so he couldn’t imagine what it felt like to be in front of his parents.

“Well, you make a really cute couple.” His mother touched his cheek slightly, then went back on the sofa next to her husband.

  


The night ended quickly, after coffee and tea they exchanged gifts – a necklace for Draco's mum and cigars for his father, a very rare book for Draco and some very expensive scarf and hat for Harry – and then they took their port key back to England.

“Did you really have a good time?” Draco asked once they were back inside Harry’s house.

“For the tenth time, yes, Draco. It was fine, your mum was really nice and your father was less scary than I remembered him.”

“Okay, good. I’m really relieved.” He hugged him from behind, kissing his neck.

“Can I ask you something? You don’t have to say yes.”

“Of course, dear.” He kept holding him, sneaking his hands under his sweater.

“Would you like to come say hi to my parents? I always go on Christmas.” He felt Draco stiffen up behind him, and then he start caressing his stomach again.

“Are you sure you want me there with you?”

“Yes, I don't really like going alone. Usually Ron or Hermione come with me.”

“Of course I’ll come. Do you want to go now? It's almost midnight.”

“If that’s okay.”

“Stop it, of course it is..” He stepped back and helped him wear his coat again, then he put on his own and draped a scarf around his neck. “Ready.” He took his hand and squeezed it. “Ready?” he asked softly.

“Yeah, hold on.” He apparated them in the cemetery, and as always he could hear people singing inside the church, celebrating Christmas, all the lights around the city were on, and even without the snow it made the atmosphere feel very festive. “This way.” He started walking, never leaving his hand.

“How are you feeling?” Draco asked, walking closer than necessary.

“I’m used to this, I guess.”

“I’m sorry this all happened to you,” he said, clearly shaken by what was going on.

“It's fine.”

“It's not. I hope you know you can talk to me when you are feeling down.”

“Of course. I wouldn’t have asked you to come here if I didn’t know I could count on you.”

“Good.”

“There we are.” They stopped in front of the stone, and Harry immediately started cleaning it from fallen leaves and weed. He removed the flowers he had brought more than a month before, and changed them with some red and white ones, more seasonal appropriate. Once he was done, he knelt on the ground, glad that that year there was no snow. “Hi,” he said softly. “Guess who’s here.” He reached over to take Draco’s hand, and pulled him closer. “I told them about you.” He smiled at him, and Draco looked extremely close to tears before he turned his head to the other side. “Are you okay?” he asked, concerned.

“I’m sorry, I'm not the one who’s supposed to be crying.” He wiped at his face quickly, trying to calm himself.

“Love, it's alright, you can cry if you want. You sure you want to stay?”

“Yes, I have to meet your parents, don’t I?” He knelt next to him, and Harry immediately wrapped an arm around him.

“They like you, you know? I had a dream of my mum hugging you, and my dad smiling, I think that’s a good sign.” He was looking straight ahead, smiling absentmindedly.

“I’m glad.”

“Thanks for being here.”

“Yeah ‘cause I’m making you feel so much better,” he said, sarcastic, and really pissed at himself.

“You are here despite the fact that you are clearly uncomfortable, it means a lot.” He finally turned his head to look at him, still smiling softly.

“I’m not, I’m just sad, I guess. I can’t even imagine what you went through, I just want to make you happy. You only deserve the best.”

“I’m happier than I’ve ever been, I promise you I’m doing just fine.” He pecked his lips quickly, then went back at looking at the photos of his parents. He looked calm, almost happy just to see their faces. It was so incredibly heart-breaking to see, how he had just accepted this, like he had accepted all that had come his way.

“They would be proud of them man you’ve become,” he said, unsure if it was something Harry would appreciate hearing.

“That’s what I like to think. It’s weird, you know. I don’t know anything about them, only stories I’ve heard. I don’t know what their favourite colours were, their favourite food or song. It’s like they are strangers at times, and yet they are still my parents. I just wish I had had more times with them.”

“I think your dad liked red,” he said after a few seconds spent thinking about it.

“Yeah? Me, too. A true Gryffindor.”

“And the colour of your mum’s hair. I bet he was a sap like you.” He poked his cheek, just trying to make his presence known however he could.

“You are probably right.” He laughed, with tears in his eyes. “Do you think they liked pizza?” he suddenly asked, as if that was the most important question of them all.

“Who doesn’t?” He lightly touched his cheek now, wiping away the tears. It was all so unfair.

“Wait, you are telling me you like pizza and we’ve never eaten one together? I thought it wasn’t posh enough for your standards.”

“I’d never say no to a pizza.” He almost sounded scandalised. “Whoever think they were above pizza is just a sad person with a god complex.”

“Perfect, port key to Italy next week, I’ll use my Auror card just for you, don’t even argue with me.”

“I love you, ” he blurted, unable to just keep it to himself anymore.

Harry’s eyes were so wide it must have been painful. “You said it.” He was staring at him, his lips parted.

“I just- it felt right. I want you to know, just like I want you to know everything about me. You are part of my family now, and I hope one day I can give you what you’ve been missing your whole life.”

“I love you, too.” He hugged him and hid his face against his scarf. “Thank you.”

“I’m sorry it took me so long.”

“I don’t care, I’m just so happy right now.” He let go once again, and Draco was relieved to see how big he was smiling now.

“And I thought about talking at the Ministry next week. I will, if you still want me to.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, I want to. As long as you will be by my side making sure I don’t get hexed.”

“Of course, I will protect you. I always will.”

“Disgusting.” He fake-gagged, because apparently he couldn’t handle serious conversations for more than five minutes without his brain short circuiting.

“Shut up, you like it when I’m a sap.” He started pushing him, and soon enough they were just play fighting like little kids.

“Whatever makes you sleep at night, dear.”

“You are so annoying. C’mon, let’s go home.” He got up and brushed away dead leaves from his clothes, then he offered Draco his hand to help him to his feet.

“Hey, Potter?” he called him, holding on to his hand.

“Mmh?”

“Merry Christmas.”

“Merry Christmas, love.”

  


***

  


Ever since he had started celebrating it with Ron and his family, Christmas had quickly become his favourite holiday. It was always filled with so much happiness and quality time with his loved ones, and he enjoyed spoiling his friends more than anything in the world.

But that year was ever more special.

He woke up earlier than usual, and managed to sneak out of the bed and away from Draco’s tight embrace. He quickly wore his dressing gown – despite himself, he had to admit that Draco was right and it was very useful –, and made his way downstairs. They were not expected at the Weasleys’ at least until midday, which gave him enough time to make Draco breakfast, hopefully wake him up with a blowjob, and then exchange some gifts. He had gotten him five, because Draco had threatened to cut his dick if he even dared to buy him something else, so he had decided to only take three with them at the Burrow and leave the more special ones at home.

He quickly made some pancakes, trying to make their breakfast as light as possible because he knew Molly was not going to be happy unless everyone had had at least two servings of everything, and then he put them under a charm as to not let them go cold. He then went outside to pick some flowers – it turned out that Draco was, in fact, great with plants – and he set them on the tray.

He finally made his way upstairs and he was relieved when he found Draco still fast asleep, with his mouth hanging open and his hair in his mouth. He smiled to himself and left the tray on his nightstand, then he sat down on the bed and brought a hand to his face to move the hair away. He took his time just looking at him and gently touching his face, just taking him in and thanking whoever had made it possible for Draco to become his boyfriend.

“Babe,” he called him, gently.

Draco grunted in answer and opened one eye.

“Can I blow you?” he asked, as if he was asking about the weather. Draco had not been joking when he had told him about liking to please and give up control, and while he had told him he was okay with Harry waking him up by touching him, he always wanted to make sure Draco was in the right mood.

“What a stupid fucking question,” he muttered, reaching out to touch his cheek. “Kiss first,” he demanded, puckering his lips.

He leaned down and kissed him, first on the lips and then on his forehead. “Good morning, love.”

“Good morning.” He smiled at him and let his hand slide down to Harry’s hair. It had taken him a while to decide, but when he had noticed how much Draco liked him with long hair, and especially how much he enjoyed pulling on it, he had simply let it grow and now it was longer than it had ever been, almost enough for a bun. “I think I was offered a blowjob?”

“Yup. My sixth unofficial gift so you can’t chop my dick off.”

“I love your dick, you know I’d never do it,” he said, because a sleepy Draco meant a very blunt Draco.

“Thank you, my love.” He smiled at him, and finally moved the blanket away. Draco was in his boxers, because Harry was set on the house always being very hot, so he wasted no time and leaned down to mouth at his dick, gently dragging his teeth over the cloth.

“This is already my best Christmas ever,” he said, bringing a hand down on Harry’s head and the other behind his own neck.

“What would make it better?” he asked, finally pulling his boxers down.

“This, definitely this,” he said, his voice already raspy.

“Glad I can help.” He grabbed his penis and started moving his hand slowly, kissing the tip from time to time just to heard Draco’s desperate noises.

“Harry, please,” he begged, having had enough of the teasing.

“I like the way you taste, this is my Christmas gift.”

“Fuck, I hate you so much at times.” He covered his face, embarrassed, and Harry took advantage of the fact that he wasn’t looking to take him in his mouth, immediately bobbing his head quickly. “Shit,” Draco almost screamed, his hand tightening in his hair. “Harry,” he moaned, softer that expected given the situation.

Harry looked up at him, and moved one hand to his left nipple, just pinching it and rubbing it between his fingers.

“Harry,” he said again, now more desperate. The first thing he had discovered about Draco in bed was that he was loud, so incredibly loud that he had started putting up charms when they were at school. The second one was that his nipples were extremely sensitive, and once he had made him come just by licking his nipples and barely stroking his dick.

“You have no idea how hot you look,” he said, trying to catch his breath. He started moving the hand that was around his dick faster, and he smiled smugly when Draco threw his head back and almost shouted. “Sounds so good, love.” He leaned down to kiss his hip bone, then made a path all the way down to his ankle and then up again. Third thing about Draco in bed: he liked to be praised and adored, in every way. Words, gestures, he was even okay with smiles at times, he just needed to feel loved and like he was doing well.

“Harry, please.” He pulled on his hair, trying to get him closer to where he really wanted him.

“So demanding today,” he teased him, but he finally decided to please him and he took him in his mouth once more, helping himself with a hand at the base of his dick and stimulating his testicles with the other.

“Fuck, this is good,” he groaned, and Harry knew he was close by the way he was trashing on the bed, how he could barely hold his legs still and how his hips kept lifting up even with Harry pinning him down. “Can I come?” he asked, desperate.

Harry squeezed his leg once, meaning yes, and in less than five seconds Draco was coming inside his mouth, shouting his name and pulling on his hair, harder than Harry would have liked, but he wasn’t going to complain when he boyfriend looked so good.

He swallow immediately, and slowly pulled away. “Marry Christmas,” he said, his voice just a tiny bit raspier than usual.

“Indeed.” He pulled him on top of him, and kissed him, moaning into his mouth when he tasted himself. “What can I do for you?” he asked, already reaching down to touch his erection.

“It’s gonna take me approximately five seconds to come, so.”

Draco smirked at him, smug, and reached inside his boxers. He muttered a spell, and soon enough the hand around his dick was covered in lube. “The only wandless spell I’ll ever need.”

“I’m in no position to contradict you,” he said, barely able to speak. “Fuck, Draco.” He moved a leg over one of Draco’s, straddling it, and rested his forehead against his boyfriend’s.

“I love you,” he said, because now that he had said it once he didn’t seem able to stop.

“Shit.” Harry was coming in seconds, thrusting his hips against Draco’s hand and holding on to his shoulders.

“Did you just come because I told you I love you?” Draco asked, amused, still stroking him slowly and milking the last of his orgasm.

“Looks like it,” he panted, and he reached down to stop Draco’s hand, feeling way too overstimulated. “Shower and breakfast?” he proposed.

“Sounds like a plan. Get the water warm, I’ll go feed Theo.”

They were showered and clad in their festive pyjamas – some horrible matching ones with moving reindeers that Draco had bought them. Harry loved them –, sitting on the bed with four gifts between them and Theo cuddled up between Harry’s crossed legs.

“This is your first one,” Harry extended a small blue package to Draco, who smiled at him when he noticed how tense Harry looked and made quick work of the wrapping paper. It was a box, small and decorated with hearts.

Draco opened it, and immediately looked up at Harry, his eyes wide and smile even bigger. Inside was a key, a very old one, and Harry had bought a snake key chain to go with it.

He cleared his throat, trying to get rid of the lump he was feeling. “The snake moves when you unlock the door.”

“I really need you to open this gift,” was all he said, and he gave him an equally small package, wrapped in green and with a tiny white bow on it.

Harry opened it quickly, and he stated laughing, almost hysterical, when he saw what it was: a key, to Draco’s apartment, with a tiny owl as the key chain. The owl wasn’t all silver like Draco’s key chain, but it had been personalised to look like Hedwig. He knew that, because he had spent ten minutes looking at it in the shop, and it had looked nothing like the one in his hands.

“I don’t use that apartment a lot, it's more symbolic really,” Draco said.

“Thank you, and thank you for her,” he said, still looking at the owl. He reached out to touch Theo, and he smiled when he felt him stretch.

“I can’t believe we had the same idea,” he said, amused, and he reached out to touch his knee.

“I can. We are _that_ type of couple.”

“We are.” He made a disgusted face, but Harry didn’t buy it for even a second. “Okay, second one." He unwrapped the second gift, a slightly bigger box, still in the same paper and box. “Harry,” he said, his voice going higher and his cheeks going red. They had briefly talked about sex toys, and they had taken into consideration the idea to visit a shop in muggle London, but they had never been able to find the time, so Harry had channelled his inner Gryffindor and he had gone alone just to buy him some nipple clamps connected by a chain.

“We can try them later,” he said, smiling smugly. “Or now, so you will feel them all day.”

“Fucking hell,” he muttered, not so discreetly fixing his pants. “I’m not sure it’s a good idea for the official introduction, but I’m tempted.”

“Let me know,” he said, “totally up to you.”

“Can you decide?” he asked, barely a whisper. Which meant he wanted it, he just wanted Harry to reassure him.

“We will play before leaving,” he said, reaching our and picking up their new toy.

“Okay,” he said, looking almost shy. “Here’s your second gift,” he said, trying to gain back his composure, and he extended another package.

He opened it quickly, putting the bow on Theo's head, and he just stared at his gift for what felt like hours.

Since he always spent most of his holidays with the Weasleys, he put up a tree but never bothered to decorate it too much. He liked doing it, but he wasn’t the best at it and he had always found Christmas balls too boring and pain.

He had told Draco as much when he had talked shit about his Christmas tree, and the other man had not insisted, but apparently he hadn’t forgotten about that.

Inside the box were four crystal balls, bigger than his usual ones, and insiders were photos of his favourite people. There was one with his parents, waving at him, one with Ron and Hermione, both kissing his cheeks, one with the whole Weasley family from the year before at Christmas, and the last one was of Harry and Draco, Harry with his head thrown back as he was laughing, Draco looking at him fondly and Theo trying to escape from Harry’s arms. Hagrid had taken it for them for their Christmas cards, but Draco had quickly rejected it and asked for a more posed one that wasn’t going to kill his father on the spot.

“Babe,” Draco called him, gently stroking his cheek.

“Thank you,” he whispered, throwing himself at Draco and hiding his face against his neck. In all of that Theo did not move at all.

“You’re welcome,” he whispered back, stroking his back.

“Can we put them up?” he asked, pulling away and wiping under his eyes.

“Of course.” He smiled softly at him, and they quickly made their way downstairs, leaving a very disgruntled kitten on their bed.

“Two each.” He reached for the one with his parents and the one of him and Draco, and he took a step back to look at the tree and find the best spots. He opted for centre place for his parents, and near the top for the other one, while Draco put the other two on the sides. “It looks better now,” he said, and he smiled happily when Draco hugged him from behind and kissed his cheek.

“It does, it’s more you.” He rested his chin in his shoulder, and Harry brought his hands up to cover Draco’s.

“Can we make it a tradition? A new one every year, maybe we can make some smaller so we don’t run out of space.”

“I like this idea.” He rubbed his nose against his cheek, and just stayed there, hugging him.

“I’m really happy, thank you. And I don’t mean for the presents. Just thank you for being you and loving me.”

“This better not leave this room, Potter,” he said, because while he was working on it, sometimes he still had a hard time accepting all the love Harry wanted to pour on him. He had started feeling more worthy, he knew he deserved it, but his cheeks still went red any time Harry went over the top with his declarations and he went back to being sarcastic so that he didn’t have to answer.

“Of course love, you have a reputation.” He rolled his eyes, amused, and he turned around in his arms to face him. “What do you say we play a bit with Theo and then we start getting ready?”

“Harry, it’s nine, how long do you think it takes me to get ready?” he asked, almost offended.

“Not ready as in dressed.” He winked at him, and he twisted his nipple before running away and up the stairs.

“You fucker,” he shouted, running behind him.

  


Draco was nervous, Harry knew he was. He looked tense and like he could snap at any minute, and he was holding Theo tight against his chest, but he was trying he best. He was smiling politely to Mrs and Mr Weasley, he had said hello to everyone, Ginny included, and he had even started a conversation with Ron.

“Love, would you like something to drink?” he asked, wrapping an arm around his waist.

“Can you get me some water, please?”

“Of course, be right back.” He smiled reassuringly at him and moved to the kitchen, where he found Ginny looking at him. “Yes?” he asked, smiling at her.

“You look happy,” she said, and for the first time he couldn’t really read her expression.

“I am,” he confirmed, sending a quick glance Draco’s way. He was listening to something Mr Weasley was saying, and nodding, pretending to be interested. It filled him with so much love to see him try and surrounded by his family. He had almost cried when Molly had given him a handmade sweater, just like the one Harry had, but green and silver.

“I’m glad. I won’t lie and say I’m not finding it incredibly amusing how uncomfortable he is, but he is alright.”

He laughed at that. It was slightly amusing to see how he was trying to please everyone. He knew the whole family was aware of that and that they were doing it in purpose to some extent, but he also knew that it was their way if accepting him, they were simply testing him. “I took him to visit my parents yesterday,” he said, as he started filling a glass with water.

“Already? It took you more than a year to take me,” she said, not at all bothered by it, just surprised.

“I know. I’m kinda overwhelmed at times by how much I love him, but it feels right.”

She smiled at him, her soft smile she still reserved just for him. “You two make a very bizarre but extremely balanced couple. Very weird if you ask me.”

“Very weird period. But we like it that way.” He shrugged, and when he looked up at Draco he was staring at him with wide eyes and a pained expression. “Excuse me, I better go save my boyfriend.”

“Quick, dad discovered videogames yesterday.”

“Shit.” He quickly made his way back to Draco, and he offered him the glass. “Can I steal him from you just for a second?” Harry asked Mr Weasley.

“Of course, we will talk more next week.” He smiled happily at them and left, joining his wife on the sofa.

“Next week?” Harry asked, confused.

“I’ve been officially invited to Sunday’s lunch. From now until the end of time. Is it alright?”

“Of course it is. I love having you all here." He pulled him in for a quick kiss because he just couldn’t help himself. “Thank you for trying so hard, I appreciate it a lot.”

“You had dinner with my father, it’s the least I can do.”

“None of that, I did it because I love you, not because I wanted something from you. If you don’t want to come here, just day so.”

“I think I want it. I like it,” he admitted, quietly, just for Harry to hear.

“Then good, nothing would make me happier.” He hugged him, careful not to squeeze Theo, and he just stayed there a moment, enjoying it all: Draco’s body against his, his perfume, Theo still asleep between them, and the whole Weasley family happily chatting all around them.

As much as he had dreaded going back to Hogwarts, Harry couldn’t be happier about it in that moment. Once again, it had proved to him just how magical the place was, and yet again it had shown him that family can be anyone, even the most unexpected person.


End file.
